What did you do?
by Siri Catriona
Summary: Right off the bat, I'm running for my life. Stupid 'Truth' thing. Stupid dreams. Stupid gift! Why do I get stuck with the rotten life? Kidnapped from the kidnapper - pathetic. And where is that freaking short guy, anyway? An average girl gets thrown into the brothers' journey with no idea who they are. Can she help them? Let's find out...
1. Gates and Drawings

_Why me? Why couldn't someone else be here instead of me? I didn't ask for this!_ I thought, running for my life.

I turned into another well-lit hallway, and heard gunshots behind me. I didn't look back, I just booked it. Everyone knows they're never supposed to look back when running.

Feeling a sudden pain in my left leg, I stumbled. Damnit! Those bastards shot me!

Okay, so it's my first bullit wound. No pressure. Just keep running.

So I did. I ran despite the pain in _every single step_. I knew what these people did to their criminals. It puts everything into perspective.

I stumbled again as another projectile embedded itself in my other leg. I felt warm liquid sliding down my legs, but I had to keep going.

Then I decided to be stupid and looked back. There was at least two soilders in crisp blue uniforms. One of them held a classic handgun, and she was eying me. That's right, _she._ It's no suprise to me. I know from experiance that women are the best in the buissness when it comes to violence. The other person was a man with messy black hair. He had slightly asian looking eyes, and very pale skin. His hand was held out, and I noticed he had white gloves on. Those gloves gave me a bad feeling.

I turned away and kept running. I was loosing a lot of blood, and it was starting to get to my head. I dimly heard another gunshot, and pain flared in my arm. The momentum of the bullit jerked me forward, and I crashed to the ground.

Breathing heavily, I didn't want to get up. But I had to. It was the only way to survive.

I grunted in pain and boosted myself up on my good arm. Pushing on my damaged legs, I made one last lunge to a window beside me. That's when someone grabbed me from behind, holding me fast. I was caught.

I looked further down the hall tiredly. I was loosing _a lot_ of blood. So much so that I felt myself go limp. As I closed my eyes, I saw a blonde boy step into my vision. I knew him - hard to miss the signiture red coat and gold eyes, even from this far away.

I smiled. "Hey, Ed."

The next thing I knew, I was sinking into oblivion.

...

I sighed. I had the worst luck on the planet.

My name is Kiki, age 14. I have long black hair that reaches to my elbows, and dull green eyes. Most of my belongings were lost, so I only had the clothes on my back, which admittedly didn't smell too good.

I was in the beautiful New York City, but not for the sights. Oh no, my kidnapper lugged me here cross country, and I gave up trying to run away a long time ago. Besides, sticking with the man that took me was the best option I had, in truth. The idiot never believed me when I said I was homeless, saying that someone was out there looking for me. Though I admire his opinion, it was true that I had no one. Even if the cops knew about me, they wern't exactly busting down the door at the moment.

"Yo, Kiki!" My kidnapper, Ronald, shouted from across the abandoned house. "There's a bed in here if you want it!"

"Okay! I'll be there in a sec!" All things aside, Ronald was a pretty nice guy. He only gets mad when someone has a smart mouth, something I've, well, never really avoided. We only move around so much to be careful.

That said, I hate my life. I believe the feeling's mutual.

"Hey, Ronald?" I asked, coming into the room he directed me to.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind snatching me some new clothes? These ones stink to high heaven."

"Fine, just don't get cocky while I'm gone." Translation: if you run away I will hunt you down and kill you.

"No problem." I said, and he turned to leave. I shouted after him. "Some _deoderant_ would be nice, too!"

I heard him grumbling outside and smiled. Waiting a few seconds for him to go, I dug a peice of chalk from the pack in my pocket. It was routine: we would move, he would leave, I would draw. By the time he would be back my room for the next month would look awesome.

So I started to draw. I left the world behind and drew whatever my heart desired. An image came to me of a boy with a metal arm, and I scetched it on the wall. Right beside that one, I drew a suit of armor with spikes and fangs and glowing red eyes. I suspected it would look scary to most people, but I liked it.

After those two, I drew a tree, a clock tower, a book, and bubbles. Walls done, the idea struck me to draw something on the floor, too. Working hard, I drew a circle with a pentagram in it, along with many lines and symbols that I didn't understand in the slightest. It was cool.

I stuffed the chalk back in my pocket and examined my work. I liked it, but somehow it was the bubbles that made me nervous, not the fanged armor. Weird, huh?

Finally, I looked over at the bed and one thing came to mind:

_No way._

Looks like I'll be sleeping on the floor. I guess I didn't mind. I just hoped Ronald would get here soon so I could change.

...

Roy Mustang was procrastinating. Again. Thankfully, Hawkeye was running an errand, so he was free to do as he pleased.

At least, until a certain blonde alchemist stormed through the door.

Mustang smirked. He had almost forgotten that Elric was supposed to turn in his report today. This was going to be fun.

"Ever heard of knocking, Fullmetal?"

"Shut up, bastard." Edward said, plopping down on the couch. "I don't feel like dealing with your shit today."

Roy sighed. "So Liore was a bust, then?"

Ed stiffened. "Yeah, an absolute fake, just like their prophet. Although," he said, considering. "Whatever he did have granted immense power on it's own. There was still a rebound, though..."

Mustang nodded. "So, you are continuing your search, then?"

"Damn right we are." He stood up. The search for the philosipher's stone was a tough one, but the Elric brothers were determined to see it through. "Well, if that's all the taunting for today, then I think I'll be going."

"What was that, Fullmetal?" Roy said, holding a hand to his ear. "I didn't quite catch that last part."

Ed steamed. "WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' SO SMALL YOU CAN'T EVEN HEAR HIM!"

Mustang smirked once again. "You are dissmised."

Edward made his way to the door, grumbling. With one last "bastard" he let himself out. Roy chuckled. Making fun of Edward was a favorite passtime. A passtime enjoyed by many others as well.

...

Ronald did eventually come back, with clothes and (thank god) deoderant in hand. I wished I could take a shower like I used to, but the only place I could do anything close to that without property damage is the river. I didn't want a third eye, so I stayed dirty.

I slept on the floor, on my drawing. I was unhappy to be getting all my funk on something that took so long to accomplish, but it had to be done. The only bed in my room couldn't be classified as a bed; more like a bug nest. During the night, I reminiced about my former life, with a family and a bed and (imagine a chior here) a television. God, I missed it.

It had been years since I actually watched T.V. I know, it's sad. Most Americans these days couldn't survive without technology. I remember when I was young and had a home. My family was genorous enough to let me have a T.V. in my room, which I took for granted, of course. Sigh.

I wish I could go back to the way things were. I wanted my family back, but I knew that wasn't possible. If anything, I could have gone to a foster home, but those places are not for me. So I just lived on the streets instead. It wasn't that hard to get a meal because the good people of the world took a liking to me, and gave me enough each day to at least get something off the dollar menu at Mc'Donalds.

Heh. I used to hang out on busy street corners, waving my cardboard sign around. At least ten cars would stop, attracted to my cuteness. A few times, some idiot would drive up and make a sexist comment about how 'such a pretty thing shouldn't be hanging around here when they could be at my place' or something like that.

Whenever that happened I would whack them over the head and call then low-life pervs. The egotistical idiots would drive away, most likely muttering to themselves. I would laugh.

Those were the days. I remember smiling as I fell asleep that night.

...

_"Kiki, wake up!"_

_I stirred. "Wha..?"_

_"Kiki! Hurry! We have to go!"_

_I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Was it just me, or was my room glowing? "Go? Go where?"_

_Looking down at my little brother, I saw his paniked face."We have to run! Mommy told me to!"_

_"Run?"_

_I heard glass breaking downstairs, and there was a scream. Well, that's one way to wake up._

_I was instantly alert, and told my brother to hide under the bed. He did without question, scared half to death by the scream. Meanwhile, I grabbed my baseball bat - well, softball, but who cares - and cracked open my bedroom door._

_There were voices downstairs. One was my mom's, the other was forign to me. Opening the door wider, I saw where the glow in my room was coming from._

_My circle was on the ground in the hallway, like it had been painted onto the carpet. It was glowing an electric blue color, and the symbols seemed to shiver._

_My nightmare changed around me, morphing into white nothingness. The circle was still there, but there was someone new there too. The boy I drew earlier, with the braid and the metal arm, looked up at me in shock, like he wasn't expecting me to be there either. He had a red coat on, and I spotted golden eyes under his bangs._

_"Who the hell are you?" I asked him. "Why are you in my nightmare?"_

_He stood up. "I could ask you the same question."_

_A new voice cackled, and we both spun to find a figure sitting not far from us. It was pure white, but I could tell it from the surroundings because of the black cloud that seemed to be around it. "Why hello you two."_

_The boy and I took a step back, instantly afraid of the newcomer. "Who-"_

_"His name's Truth." The boy interuppted. "And he enjoys messing with people."_

_"Well," Truth pouted. "That's not very nice."_

_The boy shrugged. Hmm... they seemed to know each other._

_I turned to the boy. "You didn't answer my first question. Who are you?"_

_He smiled, keeping his eyes on Truth. "I'm Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist. Now," he said, speaking to Truth. "Why did you bring us here?"_

_Truth let out a big grin. "I thought the two of you would like to introduce yourselves before things start to happen."_

_"What things?" I asked._

_Truth turned to me, and pointed to a space behind us. "Why, those things, of course."_

_Edward and I turned around slowly to see a gate. The thing was huge, with statues of faceless people and carvings of circles in the stone. It was open, and tiny black ribbons were pulling in a figure from the white._

_I squinted. Those wern't ribbons, those were _hands_. And that wasn't some random person being pulled in._

_It was me._

The shock of my dream was enough to wake me up.

Well, it wasn't a dream.

I could still see the endless white, still see Ed and Truth a few feet away. But now I could feel the black hands pulling me in. I struggled. I yelled out. Heck, I even reached for Ed, whose spirit was still there, watching in shock.

_"Might as well tell him your name, girl, before you're gone!"_ I heard Truth say. Ed looked furious.

I cried in panic. "Kiki!" I screamed in desperation. "My name's Kiki! Now get me the fuck out of here!"

Too late. The hand dragged me all the way in, and the door smashed shut in front of my eyes. Darkness surrounded me. I think I screamed.

...

_"What the hell's wrong with you?" Ed said, lunging at Truth. "What did she ever do to deserve this?"_

_Truth easily evaded the angry alchemist. "She has the gift of sight. I couldn't very well let it go to waste."_

_"Who cares? You just put her through the gate for entertainment!"_

_Truth grinned. "You had better be getting to Mustang's office, al-chem-ist." It said, pernouncing each syllable. "Otherwise you may not be able to save her."_

Ed bolted upright, free from Truth. Looking over, he saw that he had startled Al.

"Brother? Are you alright?"

"No," he said, getting up. "Nothing's alright. Come on, Al. We gotta go."

Alphonse seemed confused but followed his older brother out the door of their apartment.


	2. Hospitals and Arguements

**Well, here's the next chapter, since I thought it would be cruel to just let that first one sit until next week. Enjoy!**

I groaned. What the hell happened?

Suddenly remembering, I bolted upright, only to be rewarded with a loud _thunk_ as my head hit wood.

_Ow!_

Rubbing my newly bruised cranium, I looked around. Where am I? And where did that boy go? Edward?

Suprisingly enough, I was under a desk, a wooden one of course. Carefully standing up, I searched around for Edward. No, he wasn't in here. There were couches nearby, and stacks of paperwork lined the desk I was under. I had a feeling I should get out of here as soon as possible, and I've learned to trust my feelings.

Tip-toeing to the door, I opened it just a crack and scanned the hallway outside. There was no one around, so I bolted to the right.

Just as two people in blue uniforms came from the left.

They saw me instantly, and decided I was a threat just as quick. One of them, a girl with blonde hair, pulled out a gun, while the messy-haired man by her side reached into his pocket.

Oh crap.

Well, you know what happens next.

...

Ed turned another street corner. Thankfully, the apartment wasn't far from headquarters, so they could hopefully make it in time.

Al ran beside him, not having a clue as to what they were running for, but following nevertheless. The huge building was in sight, and Ed bolted up the stairs, flashing his poketwatch to the nightgaurd. From there he ran to Mustang's office, which was empty.

"Where could she be?" Ed mumbled.

"Who, brother?"

Ed was about to answer when he heard gunshots. He was out the door instantly, and running down the hall. _CrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapCRAP!_

Turning the last corner, he saw Kiki slump into Riza Hawkeye's arms. She glanced at him and recognition flashed on her face. "Hey, Ed." she said weakly, before closing her eyes.

The girl was a mess, all covered in blood. It was dripping from her fingertips and legs, making small puddles on the floor.

"What did she do? Why did you shoot her?" Al asked, coming up beside Ed.

Mustang looked suprised. "You know this girl, Fullmetal?"

"Yes." He said. It was partially true. "She was probably trying to find me here!"

"Then why did she run?"

"I don't know! Did you pull a gun on her?"

Riza looked down, ashamed. "I guess she had every right to be scared."

"No time for that now," Alphonse said. "We should get her to the hospital. She's gonna bleed to death."

Everyone nodded their assent.

...

_"I see that went well."_

_I was back at the Gate, and glaring at Truth. "Don't you think you could've givin me, oh, I don't know, a warning?"_

_"No need. You got where you were supposed to be."_

_"Yeah, and was shot three times doing it!" I said, gritting my teeth._

_Truth held up it's hands in surrender. "Do you really want my help?"_

_"Yes!"_

_It grinned. "Alright then, I'll help you."_

_That brought me up short. "What?"_

_"I'll help you." It said, still smiling It's cocky white ass off. "But no complaining."_

_"Okay, now I'm worried."_

_Truth laughed. "Too late!"_

After that little conversation, my eyes fluttered open. I was laying down, on an actual bed, in a lit room. There was a slight chemical smell in the air, which I instantly hated. Looking around, I recognized it as a hospital room.

God I hated hospitals.

Looking at my arm, I discovered white cloth wrapped around a very sore spot. I fingered it and hissed in pain. That's right, I had been shot. _Three times_. Damn.

_"Now, now, no need to cuss."_

I squealed. What the hell? Truth?

I heard Truth's laugh in my head. _"That's right little se-er."_ It said, pronouncing each syllable seperately. _"You asked for my help, so here I am."_

Seer? What was it talking about? I'm no seer. Was I?

Then again, I did have a vision of that boy - Edward - along with a bunch of other stuff. I remembered the bubbles I drew on my wall and shivered. A seer, huh?

But no, thats impossible. Someone able to see through the demensions into time and space... it couldn't be real.

_"Oh, but it is! You know exactly what's going to happen in your life! So I sent you here."_

That dosn't make any sense. Even if I did have a gift, why send me here?

_"Because," Truth said, smiling, "The gift you have shouldn't belong in that world. Oh, there are many others, but none are as strong in talent."_

I don't know wether to be flattered or annoyed.

_"I prefer flattered."_

Was this guy going to comment on every single thought I had?

_"More or less."_

Fabulous.

Before I could go insane, the door opened, revealing a familiar blonde boy.

"Oh, you're awake."

I shrugged. "To a sense."

He came over to my bed. "So what happened?"

I smiled. "You mean after our strange little meeting? That bastard dumped me in some guy's office, and when I made a run for it that girl with the gun opened fire. Can't say I blamed her."

Ed nodded. "Hawkeye's a good person, really. I guess she would react, esspecially if she saw you come out of Mustang's office."

I chuckled. "Mustang? Isn't that a type of car?"

He just looked confused, which made me laugh despite the circumstances. I guess they didn't have mustangs here.

I'm guessing Edward just waved it off, because he asked his next question. "Do you know why Truth brought you here?"

_"Yes, please explain it to the boy!"_

I mentally growled. Then physically smiled. "I don't know. Why don't you ask him yourself? He is right here, you know."

"What?"

_"What?"_

"That's right." I said, speaking to them both. If Truth thinks he's so all powerful, why can't he take over and have a civilized conversation?

_Truth laughed. "You've got spunk, kid. I'll give you that."_

...

Kiki's face went blank, and her mouth opened to reveal a voice that wasn't her's.

_"Ask me your questions, little al-chem-ist!"_

Ed scowled. "Truth. So you really are here."

Truth's voice cackled from Kiki's mouth. _"Yes, the girl did not lie. I brought her here to help you on your quest! She is of upmost importaince!"_

"You mean our quest for the stone?" he leaned in, brain buzzing with excitement. "How can she help?"

_"This girl has a rare talent among her people, a talent altogether unheard of among yours."_

Suddenly, Kiki's voice took over, and irritation flashed in her eyes. "Rare talent my ass. All I do is see things."

_"I do recall a certain seer asking me to have a civilized conversation."_

"Shut up. I'm already tired of your crap, and you've been here, what? Three minutes?"

_"Ah, ah! No complaining!"_

Kiki growled. "Stop taking over my mouth and I won't have reason to complain!"

Ed cleared his throat, making Kiki look over. Both her and Truth asked, "What?"

Ed felt his eyebrow raise. "I can't say I know what the hell's going on here, but I just need to ask one more thing. _Where the hell did you come from?_"

Both voices went silent. Ed watched as Kiki's inner turmoil escalated.

Suddenly, she burst out. "WELL, WHY IN HELL NOT?"

Truth spoke again, too. _"All in good time."_

The corner of Ed's mouth twitched. Despite the circumstances, watching Kiki and Truth argue was one of the funniest things he had ever seen. "That's going to get confusing."

"Oh, chill," Kiki replied. Chill? What did that mean? "He'll be leaving soon. _Right?_"

Truth grumbled. _"The all mighty force in the universe at the will of a seer..."_

"Oh, cut the crap. You'll be fine."

Ed sighed. "You're not going to answer my question, are you?"

_"Didn't you hear me, little al-chem-ist? All in good time."_

"Damnit, will you cut that out!"

Ed sighed again. He could already tell this was going to be a long night. Then he noticed something Truth said, and his head shot up. He turned to glare at Kiki.

"Truth... _did you just call me little?_"

**Yes he did, Ed, yes he did.**

**Thanks for reading this far, you guys! Remember, feedback is always appericiated! Sorry for any spelling mistakes - my microsoft word isn't up and working right now and I'm a horrible speller.**

**Review!**


	3. Research and Failures

**Hi! I'm back, and ready for action baby! Well, the story is still in filler-ish mode right now, but you know what I mean.**

**Special thanks to:**

**The Hopeless Alchemist**

**The Epic Chibi**

**Onward!**

We were still in the hospital room an hour later - an hour of Truth and I bickering back and forth, out loud of course, and Ed trying not to laugh - when Edward asked his last question.

"So... who are you?"

My face fell. "Back at my -"

_"Ahem!"_

"Home - there, are you happy? - I pretty much lived out on the streets. I remember giving myself up for adoption one time, so I could have a solid roof over my head - it didn't work out so well. Let's just say, I'm the odd girl out, the girl whose troubles follow her _absolutely freaking everywhere_ until she learns how to fix them. A few months back, I was taken in - well, more _taken_ than _in_ - by a guy named Ronald. He showed me how to live off the land, even if it was by force. We had just settled into a new place when this all-powerful idiot -"

_"Hey! I resent that!"_

" - decided to get me in my dreams."

Ed paused, then smiled weirily. "Wow. Tough run, huh?"

I smirked back at him. "To be honest, I can tell you've seen tougher."

He shrugged, but I could tell he was a little shaken by that last comment. His eyes got a faraway look to them, and he sat in silence. I laughed to ease the sudden tesion.

"Don't worry about it." I said, smiling. He glanced up - about to say something, most likely - but I cut him off. "You don't have to tell me now. It can always wait till' later. Besides, I have a feeling we'll have plenty of time to talk after tonight."

Ed sat back with a small 'thank you' smile on his lips. I offered a smile in return.

Looks like Ed and I will get along just fine. What can I say? We troubled teens have to stick together.

_And you _are_ the definition of a 'troubled teen'._

Shut up. I'm not troubled, I'm gifted.

_So you admit I'm right?_

I sat back on my bed. Right about what?

_About your powers._

Eh, who cares? My eyes slowly slid shut. Besides, I don't have the... energy... it's been a long night...

_And you don't have the energy to argue right now?_

Yeah...

With that thought, I let myself drift off to sleep.

If Truth had eyes, he would have rolled them with a smile. Humans were so odd.

...

Glancing over to Kiki, Ed saw her green irises dull and her eyelids slide shut. He smiled and shook his head. Looks like it had been a long night for them both.

Kiki was... interesting, to say the least. As well as having the ability to help him and Al, she had a firey and rebellious personality that let her speak more freely than some other people he knew. Ed could also tell she could kick ass if she wanted to - for a short while. Enough to hold her own, which was required when traveling with the Elric brothers. And she _would _be traveling with them, no doubt about it.

Now if only he could figure out what a _seer_ was.

Grabbing a peice of paper and a pen, he wrote a note in case she woke up. _Gone to get some research done. Be back by noon - Ed._ Laying it in plain sight, he left, shutting the hospital room door behind him.

Mistakenly breathing through his nose, Ed flinched. _God, I hate hospitals._

It wasn't the chemical smell that haunted him - Ed had been around that smell his whole life. No, it was the faint uundertone of dried blood, a smell that brought back bad memories. That smell was in every hospital he had ever been to, and he had been to quite a lot of hospitals.

Ed walked out the front double doors, lost in thought. Alphonse had long since gone back to the hotel - no need for him to be involved in a confusing conversation with Truth. Ed would tell Al about that later.

Walking through the early hours of the morning, Ed headed in the general direction of the library.

Truth called Kiki a seer. Apparently, a seer discribed someone with a particular and unusual power to see certain things, from what Ed had gathered. But what things could Kiki see?

When in doubt, read.

...

I groaned. Even in the early stages of conciousness, my head hurt, my shoulder hurt, everything just _hurt._ What did I do yesterday?

...oh yeah. Well, damn.

_Hey, didn't I say something about cussing?_

Yup. And I'm ignoring you anyway.

In the back of my mind, I felt Truth start pouting childishly. Score one for Kiki.

Now then, the mental checklist. To be sore, or not to be sore, that is the question. And right now, it's feeling like everything is pretty much beaten to a pulp. After a few minutes of testing my stiff muscles, I arrived at one conclusion : Being shot isn't that nice. I know, shocker.

I looked around. Now then, where did Ed go?

_Check the table, little se-er._

I rolled my eyes, but didn't argue. Looking over to the table, I saw a note and reached out for it.

Only to have my hand fall a couple inches short.

My eyes narrowed, and I pushed myself farther, grunting from my shifting weight. I couldn't exactly get up, you know. My fingertip just touched the edge of the paper when I felt myself slipping. Too late, I realized my hospital bed had no rails.

Oh, shit.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I said as I started to fall. At the last moment, I twisted belly-up. My shoulderblades hit the ground first. Still painful, mind you, but better than landing on my nose.

"Ow!" I said reflexively.

About a second later, the door opened.

"Kiki?" Ed walked in, confused when he saw my current position. In answer, I held up the note in triumph.

"Got it!" I said.

Ed stood there for one more second, then he chuckled. I cracked a smile, and soon we were both laughing our asses off. I clutched my sides, still laying on the floor, while Ed slowly slid down the wall next to me.

"Oh, god!" I said, gasping for air. "Stop! It hurts!"

But that only made us laugh harder. I was in tears by the time a good interuption came in.

"Brother?" A little boy's voice came. I haulted my laughter a little, but my smile remained.

Ed was still laughing when he called out, "In here, Al!"

I choked on my laughter when a suit of armor walked in, but I still couldn't get rid of the smile. I lay there, smiling and coughing at the same time, as I looked up to the armor's metal helmet.

It was the same suit of armor I drew. Back in my borrowed room, I had drawn it right next to Ed.

_So that's what it means,_ I thought.

After my coughing fit subsided, I held up my hand. "Ed, damnit, help me up! I'm stuck!" I whined from my spot on the floor. Yes, I was still in pain, and still had bullit holes in both legs, unfortunately. The laughter just ebbed it a little.

I saw Ed roll his eyes, but he got up to help me. Once I was situated on my hospital bed once again, I turned to the armor.

"Hi!" I said, "I'm Kiki!" I held out my hand to the man in the armor, who took it in one of his.

"I'm Alphonse. It's nice to meet you."

We shook. "Nice to meet you too, Alphonse." Odd, he really did have a little boy's voice. It sounded kind of echo-y from inside the armor, though.

I looked back and forth from Alphonse to Ed. "So, what's your relation?"

Ed grinned. "Al here is my little brother."

I raised my eyebrow and looked to Al. He nodded, and I smiled.

"Let me guess, you're the voice of reason?"

I heard Al chuckle. "I like to think so."

Now then, how did I know that?

_That's because your powers are acting up, little se-er._

"Aw, and the silence in my head was starting to get so nice."

Alphonse, of course, had no idea what I was talking about, but Ed got it.

"What does it want?"

_Ask him to tell you what he found._

"It wants me to ask about what you found."

Ed's eyes narrowed. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. I came in to talk to you about that, actually." He sat down in a chair next to my bed and crossed his arms. The atmosphere turned serious. "I took the liberty of looking into this 'seer' thing, since you'll be traveling with us."

I rolled my eyes. "You know, you could have just asked me. I'm pretty sure I know what it means."

"You were asleep." I stuck my tounge out childishly. "Besides, I'm glad I went. In the records, I read about a man named Alexander Kreger. He may know something about it."

"So..." I said, "You think he can help with the things I see?"

Ed nodded.

"Um, excuse me," Al piped up. "But, what is a seer? And why are you going to be traveling with us? Not to be rude or anything." He put in.

I smiled up at him, deciding there was no possible way the two boys could be related. "A seer is a person who can catch glimpses of the future. That's why I'm coming with you guys - Ed here thinks I may be able to help you on your journey."

"Really? That's great!" Al cheered.

"One more thing." Ed said. We quieted down. "I'm a bit curious as to how exactly your 'gift' works."

I smiled sadly at him. "If you're looking for a scientific explanation, I'm afraid I don't have one. All I know is that I can predict the future in my drawings."

"What about Truth?"

What _about_ Truth?

_I have no information that he needs to know at the moment._

I sighed. "No help there, either."

"Great." He said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at him.

"All well. Hey, Ed, why don't you go ask the doctor when I'm getting out of here?"

Ed shrugged in an 'eh, why not' manner and went to the door, seemingly lost in thought again.


	4. Dreams and Memories

**Thanks to all you people for reading this far! This is one of my most succesful fanfics because of you guys! (Don't judge I just havn't been here that long *pouts*) Anyway, we get a look at Kiki's past in this chapter, so don't go anywhere! I'm thinking of changing the rating to M because of this chappy... but idk cause it's kind of tame... what do you guys think?**

**Oh! In other news, I'm currently re-writing my first ever fanfic 'Dog of the Military'. I just liked the plot line so much that I couldn't get rid of it, so I'm making it better.**

**Remember to review!**

_Alexander Kreger, a well-known and respected state alchemist, lived with his wife Lauren Grace and daughter Jessica Kreger. Two years before the Isvalan War, Alexander went into hiding with his family, claiming he forsaw a terrible fate for those who remained. His prediction caused unrest among the ranks, and many soilders followed Kreger into retirement. Later it was found that Kreger used humans in his experiments..._

Ed stopped reading there. The words were beginning to swim around the page - a sure sign that he needed some rest. But his mind wouldn't shut off.

Alexander Kreger, possibly the only man that could help Kiki, was accused of human transmutation? If that was the case, then Ed didn't want Kiki anywhere near the man... but even so, they need to figure out what exactly she sees. Besides, the judgement was hypocritical, seeing as how Ed and Al had done the same thing.

And what about his prediction of the Ishvalan War? Could it have just been coincidence, or did Kreger really know what he was doing? And whatever happened to the family?

Ed sighed. This situation was already so complicated, much more than he thought it would be, without putting this Kreger guy in the mix. Phsycic powers, along with Truth and a girl he met in a dream. It was almost too much.

Leaning back in his chair, Ed studied his newest traveling companion. Kiki was once again asleep in her hospital bed, looking peaceful. It had been two days since she appeared in Mustang's office, and she was recovering quickly. He flashed back to eairlier that day, when Kiki insisted he help her walk but then almost dragged him down with her when she fell. Ed smiled at the memory of Kiki's embarresed blush - it was funny then, but it was halairious now.

She had so much on her shoulders already - what with Truth invading her head, seeing the future, and being so far from her home. Her nonexistant home, Ed corrected himself as he remembered their conversation two days before.

Which brings the question of where was her home? Where did the mysterious girl come from? If Truth had to pull her to the gate just to get her into Central, then it must have been very far away.

Ed shook his head, returning his gaze to the book in his hands. Geez, researching Kiki's gift was almost as difficult as researching the philosipher's stone - good thing he checked one of the back books, or else they wouldn't have such a good start.

Trying to clear his head of distracting thoughts, Ed went back to reading.

...

I cussed onder my breath. Looking over at the shady entrance to the dead-end ally, I saw that there was a man standing with his back to me. All I could distinguish was the shadow, not the face, a factor that instantly made me wary of the man.

For some reason, I would always get antsy when I found that I couldn't see someone's eyes.

The figure was leaning on the wall, seemingly relaxed, but I wasn't fooled. Someone or something chased me to this point, and I was pretty sure this guy was it.

I must have made a sound, because his head turned to face me. It was still shrouded in shadow. To my horror, the figure pushed off the wall and started torwards me, reaching out.

I felt something behind me, and for a moment I was confused. There was a flash of gold and a streak of red as whatever it was leaped in front of me. At first I thought it was Ed, come to save me, but I realized that it looked nothing like Edward. Whoever he was - I assumed it was a he - suddenly charged the shaded figure. My vision blurred here for some reason, making black and grey mix with gold and red. A new color came into the swirl - dark blue danced around the scene.

_What does it mean?_

Wait, what? Where in hell did that come from?

_What does it mean? Ask yourself that, little se-er, and you will be much better off._

I gasped and lurched out of the dream, startled by the appearance of Truth.

Taking in a deep breath, I put a hand over my heart. It was beating fast, almost to the point of me worrying about having a heart attack. What was so bad about that dream? What factor made me react like this?

Crap. It was starting to slip away. I was never good at holding onto dreams, because I never had cause to remember them. It's not like you could carry out a prophecy while hiding in an abandoned warehouse or trailer park.

_Ah, but you do remember one nightmare, don't you little se-er?_

I scowled. And which one would that be?

_The night you got away._

My thobbing chest suddenly froze over, leaving it cold and fragile. Oh, that nightmare.

...

_It was a nice night. Warm, but not stuffy. The kind of night that you would want to go out and enjoy by lighting a bonfire or something._

_Well, not me! I was determined to sleep the night away. Granted, I did have my window open. What can I say? Fresh air is so hard to come by, what with all the smog and car exahust and whatnot._

_"Kiki?"_

_I moaned. "Not right now, Seth. I'm trying to get some sleep."_

_"But we have to go! Mommy said so!"_

_I peeled open my eyes to look at my little brother. He was six years old, with black hair like mine that stuck up at the oddest angles. Pretty much the only differance between us was the eyes. While I had gotten moss green, he had gotten dad's more unusual gray, making him look more mature than he actually was._

_"What did mommy say, exactly?"_

_"She told me that we had to run!"_

_He was scared. The fear in his eyes also showed in his voice. I felt my eyes narrow._

_"Alright," I said, getting up. "I believe you. But did mommy say what the problem was?"_

_He shook his head. "Something about bad men, but I wasn't listening."_

_I patted his head. "It's okay. Big sister Kiki will get rid of the bad men."_

_He looked up at me. "Okay..."_

_Kissing his forhead, I said, "Hide under the bed, just in case, okay? Don't come out until everything's quiet, okay?"_

_He nodded and I put my hands on his shoulders. "Now Seth, this is very importaint. You have to listen. If anyone you don't know comes to get you, do not move. Do not make a sound. Do. Not. Come. Out. For anything. Remember, the only ones you can trust are me, mommy, and the police. Got it?"_

_He nodded again and went to crawl under my bed. I smiled down at him and went to my closet, where I stashed my old metal bat, and brought the weapon out._

_I turned so Seth wouldn't see my evil smile. No one was going to come near my little brother._

_Bat in tow, I slowly opened my bedroom door and walked out into the hall. We lived in a two-story building, with all the bedrooms on the top floor. The same did not go for the TV's though. We only had two - the one the bottom floor, and the one in my room. That would explain what mom was doing downstairs at this hour._

_I heard glass breaking, followed by shouting and a scream. Moving silently, I went down the stairs to help my mom._

_"She's lying." I heard a voice say._

_"Don't you think I know that, you drunken bastard? Now, who else lives here?"_

_"No one!" My mom screeched. "I live alone!"_

_"Yeah right!" I edged closer, hiding behind a corner. "A woman like you dosn't need a house as big as this! Unless..." Another step forward. "You have kids, maybe?"_

_My hands tightened on the bat. Psycotic, demented, most likely mother-fucking bastard was after me and Seth._

_"Got any daughters?"_

_Scratch that. Only me._

_"No!"_

_"Oh really? How about you come with me then?"_

_I almost snorted. Oh really? How about I bust that big ego of yours down to size?_

_"No!" I heard the sounds of struggling, followed by a wimper. Of course, I was scared shitless by now, but fear made way to anger when I heard a slapping sound. Those goddamn bastards slapped my mother!_

_I arrogently walked out from my hiding place and leveled my bat with the two men's faces. "You called for an ass whooping?"_

_"Oh." The man sounded suprised. "So you do have a daughter."_

_"Kiki! What in God's name do you think you're doing?"_

_I smiled down at my mother. "Um... being an idiot? Saving your life? Sparing my virginity? All three options work."_

_"Kiki, huh?"_

_I looked over at the man and let rage take over. "Damn right. Now you two will die."_

_The two goons laughed. "What's a little girl like you going to do?"_

_All right. That's it. "I'M GOING TO BREAK THOSE FUGLY FACES!" Swinging my bat classic ballgame style, I connected with something - I think it was the 'drunken bastard' - and sent him flying, watching with sadistic glee as blood dripped not only from his nose, but also from the tip of my bat._

_"Why you little -"_

_"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Would you care to repeat it for me?" I said, smirking._

_He looked like he would explode. "Bitch!"_

_I shrugged and swung again. The man dodged and digged around in his pocket, pulling out a switchblade. Ooh, so that's how it is. Fun._

_"You're going to come quietly, like a good girl."_

_I really did snort this time. "And then what? We have tea time and go skipping into the sunset? Get real."_

_He came at me, swinging the knife and I dodged. But then the worst thing possible happened._

_"Kiki?"_

_I turned. "Seth! Run!"_

_He didn't process my statement, looking at the fresh blood on my bat. "What..."_

_"Run you idiot! Run!"_

_"Not so fast, kid!" The man shouted, coming forward to grab my little brother. I froze in my tracks, mind numbed as I saw the mans' hands touch Seth shoulders._

_Lowering the bat, I felt a shadow fall over my face._

_"Now then, both of you are going to come quietly -"_

_"Hands off."_

_My voice shook with obvious loathing, but the man was too clueless to listen. "Oh? Does this bother you, little girl?" He shook my brother, making him cry out in fear._

_"Hands. Off."_

_I saw the sadistic smirk. Slowly bringing up the knife, the man touched the point to Seth's exposed neck. "Now, now, we wouldn't want his blood on your hands, now would we?"_

_I stayed silent, examining my options. No obvious or desirable ones came to mind._

_"Well?"_

_I met his gaze. "If you do not put down that knife, I will haunt you for the rest of your short and miserable life." My voice was even, so much so that what was left of my sanity was scared senseless._

_The knife drew blood and I saw Seth's eyes widen._

_Suddenly, I sensed someone behind me and turned. The man I had hit earlier was recovered, and was swinging what looked like a very heavy lamp at my head. I didn't have time to dodge. In the corner of my eye, I saw my mother sitting in the same exact place, shell shocked._

_The lamp connected and I fell._

_I fell to two men and a lamp. How pitiful._

_When I woke up, I didn't know if I still had my virginity or not. But I did know one thing:_

_Seth was gone. My little brother was nowhere to be found. I would never see him again._

...

The memory made me curl up in the bed. What about that nightmare? I shivered. Besides, I don't think it counts if it's a memory.

_"..."_

Truth?

_Just think on it, little se-er. Like I said, you will be better off if you figure out what it means._

Hugging my knees, I chuckled darkly. Gee, thanks. That helps.

I sighed when Truth said nothing.

No matter how many people I surround myself with, no matter how far I travel or how many friends I make, one thing will never change. I was alone.

I sighed again. Yup, alone.

**OMAKE**

Suddenly, the colors swirled. Black and grey mixed with gold and red. A new color then came into the mix - a darkish blue.

The scene then resided into a desrted street corner. I found myself standing in one of those British police boxes, exept this one was the same shade of blue that was in my dream. Very... sophisticated.

The door opened, and I took a step back, ready for action.

A man stepped out of the box. He had an average build, with messy black hair along with suspenders, a bow tie and - get this - a fez.

Yes, the man was wearing a bright red fez.

"Oh, hello!" The man said, spotting me.

"Um... hi? I'm Kiki."

He held out his hand. "You can call me the Doctor."

I shook it. "Doctor who?"

The Doctor smiled. "Exactly."

**IT'S THE DOCTOR!**

**I had to put him in there - comic relief, sort of - so hope you whovians out there like it! Can you see why I'm thinking of changing the rating? Still not sure about that...**

**Review!**


	5. Homesickness and Fluff

**Hello, my people! I thought this week has been kind of slow, so I'm updating! YEAH! Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to update for a while, because I'm going to the Capital... of the United States. I know, and I would much rather go to the capitol of Amestris, but hey - beggers can't be choosers. Don't worry, I'll bring my computer with me and update whenever I get the chance. Expect some late-night updates!**

**One of my friends said I needed to put a disclaimer in here, so...**

**Disclaimer: I like to play with it, but it's not mine. And I get bonus points for making the disclaimer sound perverted.**

**Can't claim credit for that one either... sorry...**

**Claimer: I do own Kiki and Alexander Kreger.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jessica. If I said otherwise she would shoot me.**

**Onward!**

I yawned, stretching out my arms while ignoring the twinge in my shoulder. "Finally! It's so good to be out of there!"

"You're telling me," Ed said, coming up next to me and rubbing his sore neck. Hey, it's his fault for falling asleep in a wooden chair, not mine. "Now we just have one more day in this damn city, then we can hit the road."

"And where do we go, exactly?"

He shrugged. "Pick a city. We don't need an exact location, because we don't have an exact lead. We usually just travel around and ask for info."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? Does it have to be so..." I searched for the word, but my mind came up blank.

"Vauge?" Ed said, filling my silence. "Well, this stuff isn't exactly common knowlege. We have to peice together the information we get."

"And when we do," Al continued the sentance, "We follow it and see where it leads."

I scratched the back of my head, something I've seen Ed do several times over the past few days - he got me into the habit. "Sounds like a lot of walking."

"Worse." Ed slouched. "A lot of trains."

"Trains?" I took a moment to regestire this statement, then moaned. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. I'd rather walk!"

They looked at me funny, and I explained. "I have bad history with trains. Seriously, those things are out to get me!"

"... Right." Ed said, turning his attention back to the road.

I sighed. "No one understands."

(-) _**(A/N: this thing right here will be a time skip from now on)**_

I looked around the tiny room. It had white, old walls that gave a certain appeal to the space, an appeal that the greenish furniture easily took away. It wasn't ugly, it just seemed... wrong. There was a radio on a table by the only window, and the kitchen space was so small I don't think Al could fit into it. Other than all that, there was a single hallway that revealed three doors. The two that were right next to each other were, unfortunately for me, both bedrooms, while the last was a bathroom.

Sure, it was a little less than what most people were used to. But you forget - I'm not most people.

"Cool!" I said, peeking into one of the bedrooms. "This place is _so_ much better than back home." No, I had no regrets in that sentance. I left home a long time ago, no way was I going to go back now, of all times. Besides, I have a feeling I would find a new home here.

But I think too much in the future. Ha, seer, future, get it?

Never mind.

I saw Ed and Al looking at me funny once again, and I rolled my eyes. "Guys, I lived on the streets for most of my life. A lot of places are better than back home." Plopping down on my new bed, I sighed. "An actual bed... not that crappy half-assed attempt at the hospital... heaven!" I said, snuggling into the pillows.

I could almost hear Ed shaking his head. "Don't suffocate."

I smiled into the pillow. "Right."

"Our train leaves in the morning, so don't sleep too long." Al said.

I 'icked'. _Trains._ "So where are we going?"

"We have some unfinished buissness in a town called Aquroya. It's supposed to be a big tourist destination, so we'll have plenty of people to get info from." I heard Ed say.

Psiren.

I looked up from my pillowy goodness. "Hey guys? Does the name 'Psiren' mean anything to you?"

They looked shocked. "How did you know about that?"

I shrugged. "Hell if I know. I just thought of the name. Maybe it's because of the whole seer thing." Obviously, the brothers recognised the name. Could this person be the source of their 'unfinished buissness'?

Most likely.

I returned to the pillows, hearing no reply from either boys. Eventually, I heard them leave and finally let my exited facede down.

God, I was depressed. The little flashback a while ago really took it's toll. "Damnit," I whispered into the pillow. "Life can never be simple, can it?"

...

Ed tossed and turned, tangling the sheets in his metal leg. Finally, he escaped the nightmare, breathing heavily. He sat upright and looked around.

He was still in the apartment, with it's small bed and cracked white walls. All was silent other than his breathing.

No, not everything.

_What was that?_ Ed heard a soft sound coming through the wall he shared with Kiki. What was she doing up at this hour?

Trying to keep quiet, Ed listened in from his bed.

"... Like my fathers come to pass, twenty years has gone so fast. Wake me up when September ends..."

Kiki, singing? Ed tried to listen harder, peicing together the lyrics one by one.

"...Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars. Drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are..."

...

Alright, maybe I missed home more than I let on.

"As my memory rests, it never forgets what I lost..."

Yes, I was singing. This was my favorite song back in America, and I have a feeling I wouldn't hear it anytime soon. I needed it to be stuck in my head so I would never forget it, okay? Don't judge me.

"Wake me up when September ends..." Besides, I was only just singing the chorus to myself anyway. I already made sure everyone was asleep, although I don't know how Al manages to find any while in that armor.

"...Summer has come and past, the innocent can never last. Wake me up when September ends."

I repeated the chorus over and over again until it was thouroughly stuck, and only then was I silent. Sighing, I sat back, and began to think on my newest journey.

A thought hit me, and I chuckled darkly. "Guess we troubled souls have to stick together."

_I'm sure your friend would agree._

"Gee, which one?" I said sarcastically. "I can already tell that the brothers have their own problems, if that's what you're implying."

_Maybe you should ask him if he thinks of you as a troubled soul._

"Arn't you the all powerful force in the universe? If you want me to know, just tell me what he would say."

_But that would defeat the purpose!_

I rolled my eyes. "Why didn't I think of that? Oh, right, because it's insane!"

_Hey! You're not allowed to shoot down Truth! It's not regulation!_

I chuckled. "My mind, my rules. You could always leave, you know."

_Nice try._

"Damn, thought I had you."

I sat back on the pillows, once again enjoying the softness. The last few days have been very entertaining, and at first I welcomed the change in pace, but now I was left wondering: what next? Do we just wonder around Amestris until we grow old and die? Or will I just wake up one day and discover this has all been a dream? I have to be honest - that would suck. Ed and Al have been nice to me, and they're the only friends I've had in ages.

No, bad Kiki. You can't have friends. It's not allowed.

Oh, my inner sense can go fuck itself. Ed and Al were my friends regardless. Sure, we'll never fully understand each other, but we can relate enough to stay together.

...

A girl with short brunette hair strode through the streets, her head held high. Just by looking at her, you could tell she had mixed blood. Her eyes bore resemblance to those of Xingese decent, while the color of her hair pointed to roots in Drachma. That, as well as the strong frame of a Amestrian made for an interesting mix in the fifteen year old.

Puling a dark hood over her head, the girl made her way through the dark to the train station. She carried enough yen to buy at least one ticket, as well as her favorite weapon up her sleave in case there was any trouble.

"Hello, miss, what can I do for you?"

"One train ticket to Aquroya, please." No need to be disrespectful just yet.

"Of course. Will that be a round trip, or one way?"

"One way." She smiled.

The ticket salesman took a few moments, then turned back to her. "Can I have your name, please?"

"Jessica."

"Right. Last name?"

The girl slipped a few more yen through the slot. "Just put something genaric in."

The man complied, swiftly scooping up the money to put in his pocket. "Right, your train leaves at nine a.m., sharp."

"Thank you." She said, taking the ticket he held out.

"Have a nice day."

She smiled again. "You too."

...

All was, finally, silent. Ed closed his eyes, thinking of what he heard.

Kiki missed her home. Not unusual. Even Ed missed the Rockbell's shop every once and awhile, but that was completely different. He went to Resembool every time his automail needed repairing, but Kiki could never go back. At least, he didn't think so.

He was a little curious as to what that song was about. Undoubtably, Kiki sang it perfectly because every note seemed to fit, but where did it come from?

Ed marveled at how attune the song was to his own life. It seemed to catch every detail of his memory in the stanzas, making him wonder: was it a coinsidence?

Ed sighed as the chorus repeated in his head. Kiki sang it so many times that he couldn't help but memorize it. It's not like someone could just shut their ears off.

There was a rustle of movement from the other room, and Ed's eyes snapped open. A murmer on the other side of the wall caught his attention.

"Seth... "

Ed's eyebrows furrowed. Who the hell was Seth?

...

Waking up from homesickness, waking up from nightmares, and then having to get up early for a _train ride_.

This was so not my morning.

I yawned for about the tenth time that morning and rubbed my eyes again. Ed looked to be in similiar shape.

I smirked. "You awake yet?"

He shot me a heavy-lidded glare, one that clearly said 'I'm too tired to deal with your crap'. "Barely."

I chuckled.

"Are you two ready to head out?"

I turned to Al. "Define 'ready'."

"We're good." Ed said, coming up beside me and holding his travel case over his shoulder. "Lets go."

I rolled my eyes at him, but nodded all the same. "Train ride. Yay!" Note the sarcasum.

I let the brothers lead me out the door into the air of the morning. It was kind of cloudy, with hints of ozone in the air, and I smiled. I always loved the rain, the lightning in the dark. Back home, it ment a nice, cold shower. I wonder what it would come to mean to me here?

In the corner of my eye, I saw Ed put a hand on his right shoulder. Huh, guess he didn't feel the same way about the rain.

With that thought, we made our way to the train station.

...

Jessica got on as soon as the train arrived, hopping through the doors almost immeadiatlly after they opened. She didn't have any luggage, unlike so many of the other passangers traveling out of central. She didn't really need any.

Looking out the window, she couldn't help but notice a small group of three coming up to her platform. They were, by far, the oddest group she had ever seen. One was a short boy with blond, braided hair and a red coat, while another was a black haired girl with green eyes. The third person of the party couldn't be seen under the armor plates that covered them.

Interesting. And coming onto her train.

She smirked. Maybe this bunch knows something about her problem.

Getting up, Jessica stretched and walked to the back car, where she took down her hood and took in the fresh air.

It felt good to be going home after so long.

...

"Ed, I'm bored."

"Too bad."

"And I'm hungry."

"So am I."

"And I'm tired."

"Go to sleep."

I pouted. "Oh, sure. Just when I actually ask for an argument, you go and blank out on me."

He raised an eyebrow. "'Blank out'? What the hell does that mean?"

I moaned. "The poor boy dosn't even understand slang. What have I gotten myself into?"

Suddenly, it thundered outside, and my head snapped up. "What was that?"

Ed looked out the window. "That would be called thunder. It comes right after lightning?"

I got up instantly, stumbling out of the booth we were in and heading torward the back car.

"Where are you going?" Al asked curiously from his seat.

I smiled at the boys. "To watch the storm."

And with that, I let myself out, leaving them still trying to come up with a response.

(-)

"Ah... this is nice." I said, holding my face up to the rain. You just don't get this kind of rain on earth. That rain was already so polluted, but Amestrian rain was still fresh and clean and let in a scent similiar to that of fresh-picked herbs. I know, it didn't make sense, but it was nice all the same.

"You like the rain?"

I turned to see a girl, about my age, come up behind me. She wore a golden tanktop under her dark brown duster, which looked to be in the same style as Ed's - without the flamel on the back. Her hair was short and brown while her eyes were kind of squinted, like asian eyes, although I don't know what you call them here. What struck me most was their color, though.

The girl had red eyes.

I smiled. "What gave it away?"

She smiled and shrugged, then came to join me at the rail. I noticed she was wearing gloves as well.

"Headed to Aquroya?"

"Yeah." I replied.

The girl smiled again. "Same."

"Cool. What's your name?"

"Jessica. Yours?"

"Kiki. You have a nice name. Very... unique." Well, unique in this time period. I already found out about the whole time jump thing from my stay in the hospital. The thought made my legs itch.

"Thanks."

We stood in silence, each caught up in our own little worlds. It was a comfy silence, peaceful.

"So," Jessica said. "What's your buissness in Aquroya?"

I smiled. "My friends and I are just trying to track something down, that's all."

"You don't mean the shorty and the suit of amor I saw on the platform earlier, do you?"

I paused, suprised, then laughed out loud. "Yep, that's them! A word of advice: don't call him a shorty, or he might just snap."

"Why's that?" I heard a smile in her voice.

I snorted. "He hates it. The boy goes off on a rant every time someone mentions his height."

She laughed with me. "Sounds interesting."

"You don't know the half of it." I paused, looking up at the clouds. "So how about you? Why are you going to Aquroya?"

She sighed. "Visiting some family. My dad, to be exact, but don't ask me why. The man hates me."

That got my attention. "How come?"

"Because I'm not his 'perfect little girl' like he wants me to be. But he's still family, so I kind of have to visit him."

I looked back to the cloudy horizon. "Right." I don't remember my own father much. In fact, this would be the first time I thought of him in a while. What I do remember was sort of blurry, but his gray eyes came to the forefront of my mind - eyes I had seen so many times in Seth's image...

No, stop right there.

I heard the train car door slide open, and turned to see who had joined the party.

"Hey, Kiki!" Ed said, stepping out. "They're starting to provide lunches, if you want any."

I smiled. "Sure! I'll be there in a second!" I turned to Jessica. "I hope I get to see you again before we leave."

She laughed. "Count on it."

"I'll hold you to that." I said with a smile, then followed Ed back to the booth.

(-)

I glared at the small blonde boy sitting beside me. How in hell does he manage to dose off so easily? It was always a skill I envied, and now Ed was just sleeping there, mocking me.

His head was leaning against the train window, forced to stay upright because of my presence next to him. The braid in his hair was loose, and I had the sudden urge to pull it out fully just to see what it would look like. I smiled at the thought of his reaction when he would wake up and see me sitting there, band in hand, saying 'you shouldn't have fallen asleep ~ '. Just how pissed off would that make him? I had a feeling that I didn't want to find out.

Closing my eyes, I tried to follow his example. Damnit, he made it look so easy. What factor made him fall asleep? The quiet? What quiet. The darkness? Well, it was cloudy out, but that didn't seem likely. The movement?

I felt the tracks vibrating below me. Yeah, that'll work.

I tried to find a spot that would keep my head in place. When I finally did, I gratfully sank into unconciousness.

...

Sneaking back to her seat, Jessica paused at the sight before her. A wide grin broke out across her face. _Oh, wow._

There was her newly made aquaintance, Kiki, with the boy from earlier. She was sleeping on his shoulder, with his head ontop of hers.

_I wonder how that happened._ Jessica thought to herself, then shrugged. Still smiling, she passed by their booth. _I wish I had a camera._

Well, one thing was for certain. If need be, this girl - Kiki - could be used as leverage.


	6. Plans and Pasta

**Still in the fillerish chapters. Sorry. But good news! After this, there's only one more filler and then we get to read about Ed beating people up! Cool, right?**

**This chappy's also kind of importaint, because it's all about building up relationships and jazz. You know what? You just read.**

Ed opened his eyes, wincing a little at the sudden light. How many hours had passed since he fell asleep? Well, enough to loose those storm clouds, at least.

Starting to straighten up, he tensed when he felt more weight than usual on his left shoulder. Looking down, his blurry sight beheld a head of black hair. For a moment, he was confused, but then it finally caught up with him.

Kiki was sleeping on his shoulder.

He blushed furiously, not knowing what to do. Should he wake her up? Or just let her stay there? He moved a little to the side, and her head moved with him.

Ed was stuck.

_Oh, forget it,_ he thought rationally. _She's not hurting anything, anyway._

It was true. In fact, Kiki's head on his shoulder was sort of relaxing, in a weird way. Ed blushed even more at this thought, but stayed put. _Maybe I should just go back to sleep._

The thing was, he couldn't. Kiki's presence had an awakening effect on him, making sleep impossible. He sighed, seeing no easy way out of this.

Sitting back to look out the window, Ed accepted his fate, not hearing the contained laughter coming from his little brother, who sat motionless right across from him.

...

I looked over at Ed and blushed again. Crap, I can't believe I actually _fell asleep _on his _shoulder_. Geez, what the hell is wrong with me?

I woke up about ten minutes ago so we could transfer trains, and was shocked to find Ed's eyes _extremely close_ to my own. I was actually cuddling into the boy's shoulder! The thought made me want to gag, but my own curiosity arose in time. Ed woke up before me, so why didn't he push me off?

No, what was I thinking? He was probably just too lazy or thought I needed sleep or something. Not everything has to have a double meaning.

"Hey Alphonse?"

The suit of armor looked up at me. "Yes, Kiki?"

"What time does the next train arrive? I want to go stretch my legs."

Al glanced at the clock above the train station's ticket booth. "It should be arriving in an hour. Do you want to go walk around?"

I waved him off with a smile. "Just a little exploring, Al. You don't have to come with me."

"Oh... okay!"

I smiled again. Al was so sweet - adorable, really, even with all that armor on. "I'll be back in an hour!"

#-#

I sighed. Today was perfect: the sun was shining, the air was warm, and best of all, there were barely any people! I hated crowds - always have, always will, and my stay in Amestris has not changed that.

We were in a little town called Bowain, which was just one of the stops before we reached Aquroya. It was really nice here too.

Hmm... maybe I could sabotage our next train ride so we could stay here longer... but no. We needed to get a move on. Besides, I still had an hour.

Away from the train deck, there was a small square with lots of run-down country buildings. It reminded me of those old western movies back in America, exept more colorful.

"Oh, so you're here too?"

I looked around to see a familiar face.

"Hi, Jessica! I'm just exploring for a bit."

My new friend smiled. "Mind if I join you?"

"I could use the company. Come on! I want to see if there's any good food here!" I grabbed her hand and pulled her torward the far end of the square, where a strong scent of pasta was eminating from.

I didn't see Jessica's strained smile behind me.

...

_You cannot have friends, you cannot have friends, you cannot -_

_But look at her!_ Jessica's mind argued back and forth, between greed and duty. _She obviously thinks of you as a friend!_

_No, I won't think about this. I cannot have friends -_

"Something wrong?"

I glanced up at Kiki, seeing joking green eyes covering a worried undertone.

"No," I said, smiling.

...

Back on the train. Crap. I wanted to stay in Bowain and chow down on yummy pasta with Jessica.

Well, at least I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep this time - blush - and it looks as if Ed had the same predicament - double blush - so we would both be up for a while. Just when it was getting dark.

I covered my face with my hands, sure that it was tomato red. I'm doomed. Maybe I would be better off falling asleep after all.

Ack! Triple blush! Bad idea!

I looked out the window, trying not to think of it. It was dark by the time I spoke up.

"Hey, Ed?"

"Yeah?"

I swallowed, almost too afraid to ask. "I noticed... that your right arm... what's wrong with it?" I choked out.

I didn't see his expression, keeping my eyes fixed on the moon above. But I did hear him moving around, as if uncomfortable.

"See for yourself."

I glanced at him, and immeadiatly noticed that his signature red coat was off, leaving him in a black tanktop-ish shirt. His gloves were off, too, revealing one flesh hand and one made of... metal?

I flashed back to my chalk drawings - Ed, Al, the tree, the book, and the bubbles, as well as the pentagram. I remember that Ed had a metal arm in that picture, too.

"What happened?"

He got a faraway look. "An accident, years ago. Thanks to my own stupidity, I have a metal arm and leg, while Alphonse is stuck in that armor."

I glanced at Al, who looked as if he were sleeping. His usually lighted eyeholes were dark.

"What do you mean?"

Ed looked down, as if ashamed. "My little brother is empty because of me."

Empty?

Al's armor... had nothing inside? Is that why I never see him eating with the rest of us? Why his movements are so fluid when they should be labored because of heavy metal plates? Why he never seems to get tired?

I glanced at Al once more. Poor, innocent Alphonse. If what Ed told me was right, he was still just a kid when he lost his whole body. The thought made me shudder.

"What happened?" I said a little more forcefully. Ed sighed, then did something unexpected.

He told me.

#-#

My head was bowed against the window, watching the moon. After Ed's rundown, he finally decided to get some shuteye, leaning in the opposite direction as me so he wouldn't crowd me against the window.

Not that I would have minded right then. I was too lost in thought to care.

Poor Ed. Poor Al. Going through so much only to loose more, and going through so much more just to get it all back. It was depressing.

But at the same time, I was jealous. They had the time, energy, and knowlege to try, whereas I will never see my family again, dead or alive. Not even a gravestone to visit.

No, bad Kiki.

Now that he was asleep, I could look at Ed more carefully. He was peaceful - happy, even - in his dreams. And now that he revealed his past, it looked like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders.

Was it really that easy?

The train turned suddenly, slightly shifting my center of gravity. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ed slide torwards me.

And just like that, our earlier position was reversed, with him leaning on my shoulder this time.

And dang, Ed was heavy.

I got a strange feeling in my stomach as I looked over at his blonde hair. It covered my shoulder, almost impossible to escape from, and I almost struggled before I saw his face.

The boy's eyebrows were furrowed, making him look confused and vulnerable. I bit my lip.

This was going to be a long night.

#-#

"Ed?"

He stirred, but his eyes remained shut.

"Ed?"

"Yeah?"

I almost sighed with relief. "It's almost time to get off. You need to wake up."

"Yeah. Just five more minutes." he said. I grimanced as he snuggled into my shoulder - his improvised pillow. Was I like this?

"Aquroya is three minutes away, Ed. Wake up now."

Sighing, he did as I asked, straightening up, completely oblivious of his former resting place. "Damnit, I don't want to deal with this shit yet."

My eyebrows raised. Obviously, little Eddy here was having a nice sleep. I chuckled despite myself.

"So, what were you dreaming about?"

Opening his eyes, he glanced at me. "Who says I was dreaming?"

"I do. So what was it about?"

He shrugged. "Childhood things."

I nodded, making sense of his murmerings earlier that night. From what I heard, it was pretty dang nice - before all the trouble and whatnot.

"Cool." I said, before tuning to the window. It seemed as if Ed had become more accostomed to my presance over the last few days - looking into my gift, telling me about his past - and I think we were good friends now. But then my runaway state of mind barged in: would I be able to handle a betrayel from Ed and Al? If they turned against me, would I be able to let go?

Time will tell.

We got to Aquroya three minutes later, as promised, and I gasped at the sight.

It reminded me of Venice, back on earth. Well, the pictures of it, anyway. It was full of water - water as far as the eye could see, which was pretty far. People were crowding the streets that had been left untouched, crowds bumping and people dancing between the masses as they went with a specific destination in mind. Boats sailed in the waterways that had been cut through the city, and the whole thing had a slightly lopsided feel, adding to the effect.

It was just so beautiful.

Ed and Al walked past me, as if the sight was one of the most normal things in the world. After a few steps, they realized I wasn't following them and turned back to me.

Ed grinned at my bewildered expression. "Are you coming?"

I nodded and followed the brothers through the streets.

...

"Dad!" Jessica knocked on the oversized door again. "Get you ass up! I'm home!"

The door swung open, seemingly on it's own, and she walked inside. The place smelled musty, as if it hadn't been in use for a while, but that was just the way her dad worked. He only made an effort at making the experimentation rooms look presentable. As in not covered in mold.

"Jessica!" A voice came from the depths of the house. "In here!" She followed the voice to a wooden door - labeled as experiment room number 4 - and pushed it open to find her dad sitting there, a canvas covering his work.

He was middle aged, with greying roots in his black hair and beard as well as ice blue eyes. He had an average build, nothing special, but Jessica knew he was strong enough to handle the experiments. The man was colorblind, as well as deaf in one ear and a constant pain in her ass.

"Yeah, I came all this way. So what do you want? Another test subject, maybe? Or to slit open my throat?"

He chuckled, blowing off her hard eyes as she said the last part. "Actually, I do have my eye on one more subject..."

Jessica's eyebrow raised. "Oh, yeah? And who would that be?"

He smirked, turning back to his work. "I have intel from my suppliers that and odd girl was seen in this city... with the Fullmetal Alchemist."

She froze. _Shit..._

"I searched into it, and found metical records that showed unique unconcious behavior. The girl's name, as later found, was -"

_Don't say Kiki, don't say Kiki..._

"Kiki. Could you bring her in?"

"No."

The man glanced up at her. "'No'?"

"No."

"Do you forget, Jessica dear, that I hold your heart in my hands? That I could crush your only lifeline with flick of my wrist?" Jessica flinched. "Go get my new test subject."

"I can't. Have someone else retrieve her."

He sighed. "I am a bit shorthanded at the moment, what with the festival going on. You will have to accept this task, Jessica Kreger."

_Damnit, what now?_

**Alright, let me tell you real quick where I got the name from. Jessica Kreger is, in fact, real, and one of my best friends. Like in the story, she's badass and has a semi-good heart. Just wanted to put that in there so she won't kill me.**

**If there are any awesome anime artists out there reading this, I had a vision of that last scene with Ed, Al, and Kiki. Feel free to draw it for me! Post it on deviant art or something and send me the link! I would love to see your work!**

**And now look down to see something amazing, wonderful, and digital! Yes, it's the reveiw button!**


	7. Showers and Kidnappings

**HAPPY MONTH-AVERSERY!**

**That's right. As of today, I have been working on this story for one month! And it's still going strong! That's a personal record for me.**

**To those of you who don't give a crap about my personal accomplishments : 3P. HA! MY COMICAL FACE NOW HAS AN EVIL MUSTACHE!**

**I'm on a sugar rush. Don't judge me. On to the reviewers!**

**The Red Coat:**** The world needs more reviewers like this person. Whoever you are, thanks, because you were nice enough to review **_**and**_** I love what you said about the story. Kind of funny, actually - I was yelling at my email for not showing me that anyone reviewed and then yours just popped up! So thanks! Have an imaginary cookie as a token of my appriciation.**

**Hanashi o suru:**** Glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Ed'sCuriousKitten:**** I didn't exactly notice it before, but now that you mention it, it is sort of like Naraku, isn't it? Alexander was actually 'modeled' by my stepdad - no, he does not experiment on humans, I just made them look alike - and I actually planned for him to go out and get Kiki himself, but then I realized, what fun would that be? Anyway, thanks for the reveiw!**

**The Hopeless Alchemist:**** This person didn't reveiw, but I know they're reading this, so...**

**:-3} COMBO! How evil 3!**

**On with the story!**

Slowly, I opened my eyes to the bright light that woke me up in the first place. Moaning, I placed my pillow over my head.

Just as a knock came at the door. Shit.

"Hey, Kiki! Come on, time to get up!"

I moaned again. "Try to get me out of bed and you will die a slow and painful death."

I heard Ed pause on the other side of the door, most likely guessing how fast he could run in comparison to an angry Kiki. After a moment, he came into my room.

"That's it!" I held my finger up into the air while my head was still buried. "Edward Elric, you are a dead man!"

He chuckled. "Don't you have to get out of bed to kill me?"

Now it was my turn to pause. Damn, he was right. Sighing, I said "Fine, I'm up, I'm up. Just get out so I can change."

A few moments later I heard him leave and lifted my head out of the pillow. Instantly, I could smell the early morning vendors on the streets and hear the lapping waves. Aquroya really was a great city - great enough to get me out of bed, which counts for something.

I sighed again and reached for my clothes - the ones I had bought earlier that week. My outlandish clothes from the 21st century wouldn't help me here. A lock of black hair fell over my arm, and I examined it. It was _really_ greasy, which was not very unusual. My hair had been greasy for the past - what, two years or so? I got away with it mostly because of the color, but now I could actually _see_ the grime. I think I could even smell the blood from my first few minutes in Amestris - now, _those_ had been fun.

Ick, I need a shower. And right now is the perfect oppurtunity, seeing as we were in a hotel and all.

Shrugging, I grabbed my change of clothes and headed into the main room. I saw Alphonse instantly; he was sitting on one of the couches, reading an alchemy book. The brothers told me about alchemy, but Ed had never gotten around to showing me.

Al saw me and looked up. "Good morning, Kiki."

I yawned. "Morning Al." I walked up to the armor and plopped down on a seprate couch. "Where's Ed?"

"I think he went back to his room." Al said thoughtfully.

My eye twitched. That little prick! He was probably trying to get more sleep after telling me to get my ass up. I shook my head and leaned on one of the armrests.

"Hey, Kiki?"

My eyes switched to Al. "Yeah? What is it?"

He fidgeted for a moment. "Sorry for asking..." He said, hesitating. "But... who's Seth?"

Seth.

"No one." I said, looking away as that cold and fragile feeling spread through my chest again. "No one importaint, anyway."

"He seems pretty importaint to you." He said hesitantly.

"Yeah, well... it's only to be expected, I guess. I mean, he is family-" I covered my mouth. Crap! Why did I have to be born with such a big mouth?

"Family? I thought you said you didn't have a family?"

Well, cat's out of the bag now. "Yeah, Al. Seth is my little brother."

I felt Al's red orbs soften more than usual. "I never knew you had a little brother. What does he look like?"

I shrugged. "Like me, more or less. Same black hair, same shaped nose and mouth. The only differance is that Seth has grey eyes." I remembered those eyes - so joyful whenever they were set upon me, so scared on that last day...

I shook my head. I told myself a long time ago that I wouldn't linger in the past.

A sudden thought came to me. "Hey Al?"

"Yes?"

"How old are you?" I asked.

I heard him chuckle. "I'm fourteen, and Ed's fifteen."

I paused, then laughed. "Is that why he's so sensitive about height?"

"Yeah. He says he's just normal, but I think it's because he dosn't drink his milk."

My nose wrinkled. _Milk._ "I can't say I blame him for not wanting to drink that crap."

Alphonse looked at me funny. And yes, he could do that with armor. "You sound alot like brother."

I just rolled my eyes, but took that comment into consideration. Ed and I _were_ alike, when you think about it. We're both trying to move forward and forget the things we lost. That, and we both need some serious therapy. The only differance is that he has Al. I have no one.

I sighed. Alone was my street. Hell, I owned the whole nieborhood. I chuckled to myself, imagining what the hell I could possibly do there for entertainment. I have to say, the ideas were creative.

_You have a disterbing mind, little seer._

Says the entity that enjoys crashing the party.

In the back of my mind, I felt Truth shrug. And that would make score two for Kiki!

I yawned. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"Alright."

Grabbing my clothes once again, I got up and headed to the back of the apartment where, lo and behold, was the bathroom.

With the door closed.

Let me stop here for a moment and explain something to you. You know when you get home from practicing whatever sport you play, and you feel grimy because of all the sweat? I've felt that way for months. You know when you've had an exhausting week and you just want to end it with a nice swim? I've felt that way for over two years.

"ED!" I pounded on the door.

I heard some scuffling, and a familiar voice came from the room. "What the hell, Kiki?"

"Hurry it up in there, will ya'? I need to shower!"

"Tough! I'm in here right now, so you can wait!"

My eyes narrowed at the door, and I felt an unholy smirk make it's way to my face. "Oh, you sound irritated." I said evilly. "What's wrong, chibi chump? Can't reach the soap?"

There was a loud BANG, and I then head the unmistakable sound of a very wet Ed coming to yell at me - or strangle me. Probably both.

I lept to one side and hid there as he opened the door and stepped out, in all his toweled glory. I'd be lying if I said otherwise... I was impressed. The boy had some abs. Not nearly as much as Armstrong's intimidating 12-pack (yeah, he came to visit me while I was in the hospital. Not a very pleasant experiance), but enough to perk my interest. _Damn._

His expression, however, would send any girl running for her life. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING 'CHIBI CHUMP'? KIKI!" He barrelled down the hall, overlooking me in his anger. "GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE SO I CAN KICK IT!"

Behind the steaming midget, I slipped into the bathroom, clothes in hand. I had covered my mouth to muffle the laughter, but let it out full force when the door was safely locked. Oh, god! I swear, the look on his _face!_ I remembered one of those Kodac commercials from last year - automail, 1000 zen. Replacement couch, 500 zen. Ed's reaction to being called 'short', priceless! I laughed harder. The air in the bathroom was still humid - he hadn't let too much heat out when opening the door - and I gulped in more with every laugh. I could hear Ed on the other side, struggling with the handle and yelling, but I wasn't really paying attention until I heard a clap.

Blue light flashed, and suddenly the door dissolved, revealing a still betoweled blond alchemist. I yelped in shock and fear at the look on his face.

I'm doomed.

He glowered at me. "Out."

I thought about it for a second - would I really risk my life out of pure stubberness? In some cases, yes, but not this time.

I sighed and filed obidiantly out the door, pouting until it shut behind me. I looked back, heard the shower start up once again, and giggled to myself.

Ed might hate me for the rest of the day, but it was so worth it!

(-)

"Take a picture. It'll last longer."

I shook my head. "Sorry. Daydreaming."

"What could you possibly daydream that makes you want to look at my stomach?"

I rolled my eyes at the implications of this statement. "Well arn't we full of ourselves? I wasn't staring at anything in particular, Ed. Just staring."

He grumbled - something about all women being complicated - while I looked elsewhere. It was true though. I _had_ been staring at him. What was wrong with me?

The three of us were sitting at one of the city's many resturants, chowing down and listening to the waves. The boys had told me - well, Alphonse had told me - about why we were here. Turns out it really was a girl named Psiren, and dang, she got those boys good. According to Ed, she had innocent Al wrapped around her finger.

Sometimes Al is a little too nice.

Anyway, she was a criminal around these parts and escaped shortly after Ed almost drowned trying to catch her. It sounded like the flea had a score to settle.

Daydreaming again, I scanned the crowd on instinct. Bright colors passed us by, a whole parade of them.

"Hey Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there some sort of carnival going on?" I asked. "Or is this supposed to be normal?"

Ed glanced at the people too. There was a whole group of men performing acrobatics in the square, all wearing different colors. One was dresses in sparkling emrald green, and another in shimmering purple. The group danced and flipped, somehow ending up in one of those human pyramids that you see cheerleaders do. Each line of people flipped off and bowed to a now applauding crowd.

He snorted from accross the table. "Festival of light's starting tonight. Just another tourist attraction."

"What does it celebrate? I mean, does it come from religion, or an event in history...?"

He shrugged, probably knowing about as much about Amestrian culture as, well, me. Which is really sad.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go see the 'stupid show'."

He looked confused. "I never said it was stupid."

"Yeah, but you were thinking it." I said with a playful smile. Getting up, I heard Ed grumble again. I think he said 'Oh, so you can read minds now, too?'. The poor boy had so much to learn about women.

I made my way to the crowd, somehow ending up in front. The colorful men took so many leaps and dives, I wondered how they managed it. I couldn't really tell, at the speed they were going. So many colors whizzing past, and oh, so shiny! The two men I had noticed earlier - the ones in green and purple - suddenly had me by the arms, and I was weightless.

I only had time to think one thing: _Woah._

Swirls of color surrounded me, and I felt my eyes widen at the specticle. I was in the middle of my own color tornado.

And then I was falling. Weightless for two seconds, and then I was careening back torward the earth. Two other men caught me - these two were wearing blue and yellow, and they created a human cushion before launching me back torward my former standing place with a quick 'thanks for the help!'. I'm not really sure what I did other than being a human cannonball, but hey, it was amazing!

After a few more flips, the men were done and I applauded from the side with a big grin.

And then something... interesting happened.

...

"Brother?"

I looked across the table. "Yeah Al?"

"Where did Kiki go? I don't see her anymore." He said, obviously worried. I looked around and noted that the black haired girl _was_, in fact, gone. My eyebrows furrowed, earlier irritation forgotten.

"She probably just got lost in the crowds." I said, turning back to the newspaper the waitress had given me. "I think we have bigger things to worry about right now though, Al. Take a look."

The headline, thankfully, had no accompaning photo, but the print was enough.

**Psiren found dead under pier!**

Alphonse was quiet for a short time.

"She's... dead?"

"Looks like it." I said. "It also reads that there were shallow cuts all over her head, almost as if thry were placed there systematically."

"That's awful!" he said, reading farther ahead. About thirty seconds later, he gasped. "Isn't this..."

I already knew what the next paragraph read. Psiren's body was not only found below the pier, but under a specific man's shop - a former military man named Alexander. Now I know I was right. We couldn't trust Kreger. How he even ended up in this city was a mystery; we didn't even suspect he was here until now, with a lead that was practically gift wrapped.

Damnit. Another dead end.

Wait. Since I'm the only state alchemist around these parts at the moment, I'll have to go arrest Kreger's ass. And that means dragging Alphonse, as well as Kiki, with me to fight the bastard.

_Damnit._

I sighed. "You know what this means, right Al?"

He looked up from the paper and nodded. "Let's go find Kiki."

We searched the crowds, but the forign seer was nowhere to be found. I even tried transmuting myself to the top of a building for a better view, and we still couldn't find her. About an hour later, I sat down on a random bench.

This day just keeps getting better and better.

...

**(A/N: remember, this is rated T for a reason)**

"Jesus everloving fucking god, LET ME OUT!" I said, struggling against my bonds. "I swear, if you don't let me go soon, you'll be choking on your own severed dick!"

I was tied to a random chair, in the middle of a random, semi-clean room, and let me tell you, I was not happy.

A voice came through the wall. "Oh my god, will you shut up? Just stay still, be quiet, and stop cussing at me, cause' it dosn't do you a bit of good."

"Yeah, but it sure as hell makes me feel better!" I grumbled, and then uttered a few more choice words before finally going silent - much to the obvious relief of my captor.

Being kidnapped was, as I've aleady mentioned, nothing new to me. Sigh. At least Ronald would make for a good cuss-out war, but this bozo was probably plugging their ears! What a joke. For the first time, I wish I was back in America - at least there, people would have the hard headedness to fight back.

_Fight back. _Damnit, why didn't I fight back? I had time to, I was just... frozen.

I didn't even know what was going on at the time. After the acrobatics show, I had wondered around for a little. Not very far, cause' I didn't want to worry the boys. I saw a familiar face - Jessica, you traitor - and went to say hi, only to be _attacked_ and _carried_ to an old building, where I met the blue-eyed _nutjob_ on the other side of the door. And soon they're gonna start doing fucking _experiments_ on me!

I hate my life.

That's when I remembered: Truth!

_No._

I pouted. Aw, come on! _Please_ tell me how to get out of here?

_No._

But I might die!

_...No._

My eyes narrowed. You're cruel.

_It comes with the job._

I slumped in disappointment. Great. Just fucking fabulous. I have _the_ all powerful being in the universe in my head, and he - it, whatever - refuses to help me!

I _really_ hate my life.

**Okay! Another chapter finito! *canned applause plays* Thank you, thank you!**

**I actually had a hard time writing this one. Not quite writer's block, just...the ideas I was writing down didn't seem like enough. I actually wanted to go into detail about Kiki's capture, but... I just didn't know how.**

**Kiki: In other words, she was so lazy she just decided to time skip.**

**Shut it! I'll sick Izumi on you!**

**Izumi: What was that?**

**Kiki and I: *both cower* Nothing, Mrs. Curtis...**

**Izumi: That's what I thought.**


	8. Dreams and Rescues

**Hello all!**

**I don't know about you, but I'm bored half to death. So I'm updating!**

**Sorry for that little bit of confusion in the last chappy - No, Ed did not tell Al about Seth. You forget that Alphonse can't go to sleep, and even if he can zone out, he can still hear. So both brothers know about Seth, even though only one knows who he really is.**

**Disclaimer: I like to play with it, but it's not mine. And I get bonus points for making the disclaimer sound perverted.**

**One more thing: after the next few chapters, I'm going to branch into brotherhood because, frankly, it's more epic and has one of my favorite charactors in it. Just a little warning!**

**On to the story!**

**...**

"Interesting response time..."

My already closed eyes scrunched. There was a pain in my head, as well as a tight feeling going across my chest, waist, and legs. I had been sleeping. Why was I sleeping? It hurt to think, and a rush of agony came when I moved my head to the side, subsiding into a steady throb when I was still. I felt something cold touch me, but I was too out of it to care.

I was here for a reason. Why was I so tired? Hm, maybe the cold thing that touched me was Ed's metal arm... had I fallen asleep on the train again? I don't remember getting on a train.

I felt a rough hand grab my chin, forcing my head upright once again. It hurt to move on my own, so I didn't struggle much.

I felt something wet press against my mouth and nose. It smelled horrible, and dulled my mind even more.

"That's it. Just go back to sleep..." That voice didn't belong to Ed or Al. I felt that cold again, and was actually able to pinpoint where it was this time. The feeling was dragging across my forhead, and even though there was no pain, fear finally made it's way to the forfront of my mind.

Where the hell was I?

The wet thing was still pressed against my airways, and I breathed through it. My body went limp once again, and I felt like I was falling...

...

"Agh!" Ed slammed his fist down on the table. "Where could she be?"

"Calm down brother!"

He glared at the armor. "It's been a day, Al. A whole fucking day and she just vanished! How in hell could I be calm?"

He sat down and held his head with one hand, thinking. Kiki disappeared yesterday - without a trace - and both Elrics searched late into the night for her. The only problem was, everyone else in this god damn city was out and about too, celebrating. It took an hour just to get to the square from our hotel room! Ontop of that, there's this whole mess with Kreger...

"She didn't vanish." A voice said. Ed looked up to see a Xingese girl with brown hair and red eyes glaring down at me. She looked familiar...

"What?"

"Your friend didn't vanish. She was taken."

Al came up. "Taken?" He said, but Ed wasn't listening.

_How could I overlook it? The whole thing with Kreger doing experaments on people... Psiren's body... and now Kiki missing? God, I am such an idiot._

He sprung up. "Where?"

The girl's eyebrow raised. "Put the pieces together, did you? About time."

"Just tell me where!"

Suddenly, there was something sharp at his throat. Ed's eyes traveled up the arm that appeared in front of his face and focused on red eyes. "Don't yell at me, shrimp, especially when I'm helping you." She turned to Alphonse, who was standing there unsteadily. "She should be in the Kreger house, on the very edge of town. It's a tall old mansion, and sticks out like a sore thumb, so you can't miss it." The blade was removed from Eds neck, and he rubbed where it had been.

"Who are you, and how do you know this?"

She smiled warmly and held out her hand while Ed blinked at the sudden mood change. "Name's Jessica Kreger. Nice to meet you."

...

I was right behind the man, but he didn't see me. Neither did the blond girl standing next to his desk. I knew these people - the girl was the one who shot me a few weeks ago.

The man was asleep, a hand covering his eyes so his slumber could go unnoticed by the woman. I eyed his messy black hair from behind. He looked very convincing, exept for one thing - most people don't take ten minutes to read a page.

Apparently, the woman - Hawkeye, if I remember correctly - was thinking along the same lines, because she took out her gun and cocked it. The man was awake instantly and scrambled to sign the page.

Suddenly, the door on the other side of his office banged open, and soildiers in crisp blue uniforms filed in. I caught sight of a man with spikey black hair and rectangular glasses, as well as a slight peachfuzz on his chin. He winked in our direction.

The man in front of me stood up and saluted, his mouth forming words that I couldn't hear. Three people stood before his desk, and they had a short conversation before everyone left and he slumped back down into his chair.

He turned to Hawkeye, mouthing the words 'What next?'.

Dude, I feel your pain.

Little to their knowlege, the floor started to crack benieth our feet. It shattered into a million peices, and I once again fell into darkness, leaving them floating above me. Slowly, the two faded and I was alone.

Alone was, well, lonely. But it was better this way. When I was alone, nothing really mattered, because there was no one else to make anything importaint. Alone, no one I cared for could be hurt, and that's why alone is better.

"Kiki?"

Holy shit. I wasn't alone.

I turned in midair torward the voice. "Ed? What the hell are you doing here?"

Yep, there was Ed, red coat and all. Floating about five feet away from me, he had his arms crossed. His eyebrow raised. "Looking for you, dumbass. Why else?"

I crossed my arms too. "Well, you found me, so what do you want?"

"Actually, that's the point." he said, aruptly looking worried. "We havn't found you. Where are you?"

I snorted, but his tone was starting to get me a little worried, too. "Yeah, right. You're here, arn't you?"

"No, Kiki, I'm not 'here'." He said slowly, as if I was being unnessesarilly stupid. "You're just dreaming of me." He thought about that for a second and then smirked. "Wow, you dream of me?" He said, making my cheeks grow red.

"What do you mean, 'dream'? I'm not asleep..." I looked around at the darkness I was floating in. "Or am I?"

Across from me, Ed facepalmed. "You are. Al and I are worried sick. So where are you?"

I sighed. This was getting a bit out of hand. "Sorry Ed," I said, shrugging. "I don't know."

Dream Ed sighed. "Thank Truth that you're a seer, otherwise we would all be screwed over."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," He said, floating closer. "Since your unconcious mind operates on a higher level than a regular human's -"

"Hey!"

"- we can see what the hell is going on," Dream Ed grabbed my hands, and light filled the previously dark pit. "Without actually being there." He finished as three forms ran past.

The first was one I did not want to see - Jessica. She was leading the other two through the city, and looked surprisingly worried. Not that I cared anymore. She lost my trust. The next person was Alphonse, and he was following Jessica closely. Again, that was something I'd rather not see. The last person was...

I glanced over at dream Ed, who was smirking at me.

"How much farther?" The real Ed yelled.

"Not far!" Jessica called back. "Let's just hope we're not too late..." I heard her murmer.

"Too late?" I turned to dream Ed. "Too late for what?"

He looked almost... scared. "Kiki, do you remember that cold feeling on your head?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well... that... someone's killing you Kiki." He came out. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and I turned back to the group of three. Holding out my hands, I concentrated.

"You don't want to do that."

"I don't care!" I snapped. "I have to see..."

The landscape blurred, then cleared into a sort of room. It was completely white, reminding me of the gate, and there was a man sitting in front of an operating table. He was completely focused on his work, which was uncovered in front of him. I swallowed back vomit.

There was my body on the table - strapped down, clothes bloodied, but still breathing. There were bits and peices of hair on the ground, _my_ hair. The long black hair that had taken so long to grow... it was _gone._ I felt my own head and was shocked to feel only a thin layer instead of the long locks I was used to.

The point was... I liked my hair. And this bastard took it.

"Son of a bitch..." I cussed quietly. I felt dream Ed's hand on my shoulder.

"It'll always grow back."

I nodded.

"KIKI!"

We all turned torward the noise, and dream Ed smiled. "Looks like I found you. 'Bout damn time, too." Loud, clunking footsteps sounded down the hall, and the man scrambled to cover up my body. "Looks like you won't be needing me anymore..." Dream Ed waved goodbye and vanished as the origonal burst through the doors.

I smiled. Ed looked furious.

The man ran, but not before being blocked by good ol' Alphonse. I had never seen Al mad, but right now it looked as if he would kill. They both took in the situation quickly, and I could _feel_ their anger escalate as both boys saw the operating table, which was now covered by a sheet.

"Did you kill her?" To my surprise, it was Al who said this. Boy, did he sound _pissed._

When the man didn't answer, Ed charged with a crazy look in his eye. Yelling, he swung his metal arm, and it connected with the man's face. Ed stood there panting, with fists clenched. "You kidnapped a girl you didn't even know," he said quietly, "who might or might not have family or friends, put everyone she might have known through pain, just so you could cut open her head?"

Wow, maybe he really was going to kill the man.

Before he could charge again, though, Jessica came through the doors. She didn't even look at the cowering man, instead going right to me and lifting the sheet. I heard the brothers gasp when they saw what a bad shape my body was in, but waited for the girl's assesment.

Jessica straitened. "She's alive." Both Elrics relaxed slightly.

"Why did you kidnap her?" Ed asked, and the man found his voice.

"I didn't take her!" He pointed to Jessica. "She's the one who brought her in!"

Her eyes darkened. "Oh yeah, that reminds me..."

The man jolted, as if he had been shocked, then slumped to the ground. There was now a knife embedded in his own head. Jessica came forward and rifled through the dead man's coat pockets, while the rest of us stood there, shocked.

She pulled out a rectangular box and smiled at the corpse. "Thanks for keeping this safe, daddy. I'll be taking it back now."

I know it was sick, but when the horror past I found a slight sadistical pleasure at seeing the man's blood. I shyed away from the feeling as Ed and Al wrapped things up, calling the local law enforcement to come pick up the corpse.

Alphonse uncovered me and picked up my own body gently with Ed watching. I smiled, glad that everything worked out in the end.

The floor cracked, and I fell into nothingness while my friends floated above.

...

ED'S POV

Kiki looked awful. Her clothes were torn and covered with blood in some places, almost all of her hair had been shaved off, and her head was covered with cuts from Kreger's scapel. I knew those cuts would scar. I also knew that Kiki would probably freak when she woke up and saw what kind of shape she was in.

The seer was in a drug-induced sleep and remained that way for hours. Alphonse was worried - we both were. Alexander had a lot of time to experiment, the bastard. I was glad he was dead - I might have even killed him myself if it hadn't been for Jessica.

Speaking of Jessica Kreger, she disappeared before the regular athorities showed up, taking whatever was in that box with her. We wouldn't be seeing the odd girl for awhile. We didn't bother looking for her. Judging my the amount of knives she carried, she could take care of herself.

I sighed from my place on the couch. We didn't have anymore buissness in Aquroya, so we were leaving for Xenotime after Kiki woke up. Which ment another dead-end lead.

Damn it all.

**Kiki: *glare***

**ODA: *cower* I'm sorry! I had to do it! Spare me!**

**Kiki: *glare***

***ahem* Hello faithful readers! Hope you liked this chapter, even if some... um... all-powerful-forces-named-Kiki didn't. ANYWAY. A lot of this chapter was inspired by the intro(s) to Kingdom Hearts - one of the best games in existance - so feel free to check it out!**

**IMPORTAINT! In this story, Ed and Al have NOT gone to Xenotime yet. The whole this will be in the next few chapters****.**

**To the reveiwers! That's right, I did not forget you guys!**

**The Red Coat:**** Thanks, and I really hope you get an account. I would love to read your stories! I agree - FMA ALL THE WAY! I like FMA:B because even Alphonse is totally kick-ass! It's like taking diamonds and adding chocolate to it! Okay... maybe that's the wrong comparison... but still!**

**Hanashi o suru:**** I know, I'm stretching a few things here, but for a good cause! Thanks for the reveiw.**

**Ed's Curious Kitten: ****Glad you like it!**

**Evny Lover:**** Le gasp! *takes apple pie* THANK YOU!**

**The Hopeless Alchemist:**** Down girl! ED! RUN! O.o;**

**Kiki: *glare***

**...Oh, come on! You're almost as bad as the pipsqueak!**

**Kiki: *glare***

**Ed: *glare* *pulls out duct tape***

***gulp***


	9. Xenotime part 1

**All right! ODA here, out with yet another chappy! Who do you love?**

**Like I said in the last chapter's author's note - yes, I know you guys don't read those, but still - Ed and Al HAVE NOT gone to Xenotime yet. That takes place in this chapter, from Kiki's point of veiw.**

**REVEIWERS!**

**Hanashi o suru: ****I was suprised how fast your reveiw came in, so bonus points for speedy reading :). Yeah, Kreger was kinda, well, insane, but Jess took care of it. Thanks for the review!**

**Loki the Evil Goddess:**** OMG I didn't even think of that! And yes, Jessica is a filler charactor so we'll be seeing her later on XD. And I'm sure tons of people agree - we would all freak out over an *ahem* unplanned haircut. Thank you so much for your support, you have no idea how greatful I am! Thanks for reveiwing! **

**Ed's Curious Kitten:**** Glad you like it! Thanks for the reveiw!**

**The Hopeless Alchemist: *****blush* Sh- Shut up! So I have a fangirl crush on a certain Xingese prince? So what?**

***Ahem* Anyway, on with the story!**

I sighed, fingering one of the scars on my forhead. My head didn't hurt anymore, but the marks from my first little misadventure with the Elrics stood out for all to see.

How I looked never mattered much, but Kreger's experiment session was pushing my limits. I now had three seemingly random scars on my forhead, along with what might be described as a pixie cut. I remembered those stories I used to read back in America - the ones where random girls were put in random situations and saved the day no sweat. I even think there was a name for that kind of person. Mary - something. If only those authors could really see what the hell adventuring was about. If this had happened to one of those Marys, they would just shake it off or heal in a matter of minutes so they could continue the story as pefect as they started.

I decided I hated those people. Any normal person wouldn't just shake off this sort of thing. No matter how much they tell themselves otherwise, everyone would be freaked.

I sighed and pulled up my exited facade'. I couldn't let the brothers see me like this. I wouldn't.

"Kiki?" A tenative voice came through the door. "Are you ready to go?"

Taking a deep breath, I smiled. "Yeah, I'm coming."

(-)

The train ride was uneventful. No one slept, not even Ed, but I didn't break the silence. I knew what was bothering him, I just didn't know what to say. 'It's not your fault'? That would only sound like a half assed attempt at sympathy. Of course I didn't blame them - who would? But the boys are so hard-headed in their misery that they didn't get my telapathic signals.

Anyway.

When the train did stop, we all piled out of the car, and I followed Ed and Al through the city. They told me it was named Xenotime. It was pretty - there was a small mountain near the edge of town, and I think I saw a nice looking mansion there. The rest of the town was nice, but there wern't as many people out as I thought there would be.

I frowned. "Where is everybody?"

"Help! Somebody, help!"

What in hell? I looked to Ed and Al, and reached a unanimous agreement. Turning torward the noise, we ran to see what was wrong.

"Don't worry, Alicia, we'll get you out of there!"

Spotting the gathering, I yelled. "Hey! Need some help?"

A man turned to us from where he was crouching. "My daughter is pinned!"

We ran up, and I saw a little burnette girl with short pigtails caught under a mine cart. How she managed to get in there, I have no idea, but the poor thing looked scared to death. I smiled and went to comfort her.

"Hey," I said, getting her attention off Ed and Al, who were examining the situation. "It's alright. No need to be scared, my friends are going to get you out real quick." I turned to Ed. "Right?"

He smiled down at the little girl. "Yeah, no problem!" He turned to the fallen mine cart, and I held the little girl's hand as he transmuted it into a steel rod.

"There," I said to the girl, who now had her eyes closed. "Better?"

Opening her eyes, she gasped at our trio. We smiled.

(-)

"To think, a bunch of alchemists would come along!"

I waved my hands. "No, I'm no alchemist. That's their department." I gestured to the brothers.

"Yeah, but it was extremely lucky that you guys came along." The girl's father said. After his daughter, Alicia, was freed, he invited us to his home to stay the night. The place reminded me of a log cabin, not that I could see much past the greatful faces of all the miners.

"I've been wondering," Alicia spoke up from the edge of the table. "Why does your dad wear armor?"

All three of our eyes widened, and I coughed out a laugh. Ed did the same. "No, no. We're brothers. This is my younger brother, -"

"Younger? But he's so much bigger than you."

Now Ed looked speechless while Al and I laughed. Poor Ed.

"If you two are brothers," Alicia said, turning to me. "Does that mean you're their sister?"

I froze. Me, related to Ed and Al? Do we really look that much alike? No, probably not, but still... I glanced at the brothers, who were now laughing at _me._ I cleared my throat. "You ask a lot of questions. No, I'm not their sister, we're just really good friends."

"Okay!" Alicia smiled. _Cute..._

"ALICIA!"

We all turned as a man bust his way through the door. He had wavy black hair that covered half of his face, and he was out of breath. "Is Alicia all right?"

Alicia looked overjoyed. "Uncle Belsio!" She ran forward but was stopped by her father. "Papa?"

"How dare you come into my house?" We watched with interest as the father got out of his seat. "After making Alicia help you, you dare to come here? Look, Alicia, no matter what anyone says, you are not allowed to help Belsio again!"

The man, Alicia's Uncle Belsio, looked ashamed. Apparently, he was the one who invited the girl up to the mines, where she got caught under that cart.

"No!" Alicia yelled at her father, surprising all of us. "It's not Uncle Belsio's fault! I asked him to let me help out -" She broke into a coughing fit, making me lean forward worriedly. I always did have a soft spot for younger kids.

"I - I'm sorry, Alicia. Here, drink this." The father said, anger forgotten. Alicia grabbed the cup of water he offered, and chugged it down. I watched her gasp in a breath when the cup was empty. The door closed, and I looked up to see that Belsio had left. Odd.

Alicia wiped her mouth and examined a basket on the table that hadn't been there before. "He said that your lemon pies were always that best," she murmered. "And that it was a shame that almost none of the farms supplied them anymore."

"Hey, hey. Once the Philosipher's Stone is finished, you can have all the lemon pies you want!"

"Yeah, and then this town will be back on it's feet!"

Ed lept up. "Philosipher's Stone?"

I raised an eyebrow. Where have I heard that name before?

"Yeah! That's why you're here, isn't it? To help Mugwar in his research?"

We paused. "Uh..."

"Please, alchemist, finish the Philosipher's Stone as soon as you can! It's th only way to refill the mines and have the city prosper again!" Someone said. Soon everyone was leaning in and giving us encouragements.

"May we ask, what are your names?"

"Oh!" Ed smiled, getting hold of the situation. "I'm Edward, Edward Elric."

"And I'm Alphonse, Alphonse Elric."

"Elric? As in, the State Alchemist Elric?"

The brothers nodded.

"LIARS!"

Suddenly, the men lunged forward and grabbed hold of Al, while one man seized Ed by his coat. Before you could even blink, both boys were launched out the front door. I ran to the door, confused.

"Hey! What was that for?" Ed yelled at the mob.

"You two lie! The Elric brothers are already up there!" He pointed to the mansion I noticed earlier. The man, Alicia's dad, turned to me. "And who are you?"

"M - my name's Kiki. K - Kiki Arashi."

He nodded. "Are you with these boys?"

I opened my mouth to answer 'yes', but Ed interupted. "No, she's not!" I looked at him. "We just met at the station."

"Alright. Now, come back when you want to be honest about your names!" I got one last look at Ed before the man slammed the door. He looked releived they didn't kick me out, too. Now I had a place to stay while they were stranded out on the street.

That idiot.

Later on, Alicia's dad showed me to my room, and gave me supper. I was starving, but told him I wanted to eat outside. It was a cool night, and the stars were showing, but there were no signs of either Elric.

Again, that idiot. I ate my food and went back inside, wondering what the hell they were up to.

(-)

"Did you hear? Someone broke into Mugwar's place last night!"

"Yeah. I hear the Elric brothers chased whoever it was off, though. I bet it was those imposters from yesterday."

I listened to the whispers and tried not to comment on the boy's stupidity. I can't believe they went and broke into the mansion without me! What a joke. I glared at my plate. If anything, I wanted to be with the boys, like I was supposed to be. Just waiting and listening to passing news didn't sit well with my stomach. Or was that the eggs?

"Hey, Kiki?"

I turned. Alicia was standing by my table, a smile on her face. "Do you want to come visit Uncle Belsio with me?"

I blinked. "Sure, hon. Just let me go get my shoes."

(-)

"Morning, Uncle Belsio!"

"Good morning, Alicia. It's good to see you, but arn't you worried that you'll get yelled at again?"

"Nope!" The little girl said cheerfully. "Papa is all wrapped up in the mines, so he won't notice I'm gone!" I smiled at Alicia. I liked her - she was free spirited and caring, as well as stubbern in the things she believed in.

Footsteps came down the hall, and I turned to see... Ed and Al?

I put my hands on my hips, like you see in movies. "You idiots. First you get yourselves kicked out and don't let me follow, and then you go and do... well, what ever the he..." I looked down at Alicia. "Heck you did... without me!" I examined Ed closely. He had a swollen cheek, and it looked red and painful. I almost laughed. "And it looks like you two got your butts whooped."

"Shut up, Kiki." Ed grumbled. I rolled my eyes.

"Like I said, idiots. Let me see." Before he could object, I grabbed his chin and examined his swollen cheek more closely. "Dang, they got you good. Was it the imposter, by any chance?"

Ed smacked my hand away and pulled back with slightly red cheeks. "Yeah, it was the imposter! Not fair. He's the one who lied and I got clocked for it!"

I snorted.

"So, you were the ones who broke into Mugwar's last night?" Alicia asked.

"Yeah!"

I saw Alicia's expression change. "Ed -"

"Like I was just going to let those two steal our names!"

"Brother." Alphonse touched his brother's shoulder, and he looked down to see Alicia's expression as well and went silent. After a few moments, he turned to leave. "I'm going to go see what's happening in town."

"Brother!"

I shook my head. "There he goes again."

"Hey, big guy?"

Al stiffened. "Yes?"

"Would you mind going into town to get some medicine for me?" Belsio asked.

"Medicine?"

"Alicia's cough medicine. And your brother needs a compress as well, right?"

Al nodded and left. I turned to Alicia, who was still standing beside me. "I'm sorry about those two." I said, crouching down to her height. "Ed can get a little... hard headed at times."

"Kiki, what's his real name?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"You call him Ed, but he's not Edward Elric. What is his real name?"

"Um, even if he's not Edward Elric, his name is still Edward. I mean, plenty of people can have the same name, right?"

She nodded, looking slightly happier. "Hey, you want to play with me?"

"Sure, kiddo! What do you want to play?" She giggled and ran outside with me in tow. I hadn't been around kids in so long, I almost forgot what it's like to be minipulated by one. I smiled, my own will useless against the cuteness that was Alicia.

(-)

"You're joking."

"I'm not joking."

"But it's only the next day!"

"All the more reason to go."

I crossed my arms. "You're gonna get slugged again."

"Am not! So are you coming or what?" Ed asked.

I looked at Ed, then Alphonse, then back to Ed. I sighed.

"I must be going insane..."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "_Going?_"

"Shut it!" I climbed out the window - what? I'm only on the first floor! - and joined them. "Lead the way."

We snuck through the streets, careful to avoid late night pedestrians. As I followed them to Mugwar's mansion, I thought back to my little 'playdate'. Alicia was a sweetheart, and she didn't put too much strain on where my line was - you know, the line that you draw when things go too far for your taste. We played well into the evening, and she taught me loads of stuff about Xenotime and Amestris itself. But then these two came and told me they were going to try, once again, to break into Mugwar's.

And now I'm the idiot for coming with them. Great.

I followed the boys through a small courtyard and behind a corner. After checking if the coast was clear, Ed turned to us and smiled. "This time, we'll use the mole-man tecnique!"

"Mole-man?"

He clapped his hands and slammed them onto the ground. A yellow and blue light spread out, and in front of us there was suddenly a deep hole. Ed smiled again before jumping in. Al was next, then me. A few minutes in the dark, and our party haulted.

"This should be good."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, we have to come out somewhere." Ed clapped his hands, and light flashed again as another tunnel appeared, this one leading straight up.

"Bingo."

(-)

"The hell is this mess?" I walked over to where Ed and Al stood. "Alright, maybe you guys are used to this kind of shit, but I'm not. Can someone please explain what's going on here?"

Al looked at me. "Do you remember what we're looking for, Kiki?"

"The Philosipher's Stone, right?"

"Right. Well, we think the red water here," he gestured to the stream of red liqid in front of us. "Is the base material for the stone."

"And that's why it's so importaint..."

"I read a document in Central about a red stone." Ed said. "It's made of roughly the same compound of a Philosipher's Stone, which you get by refining red water."

"Then, you can make one from this water?" I looked down at the stream.

"Yeah. Apparently, it won't be the exact same thing, though."

"But, what about -" I choked, suddenly out of breath, and clutched my throat.

"Kiki!" I heard the boys shout, but it seemed far away. The air was humid and heavy, and it was almost like there wasn't enough oxegen.

"What the... hell..." I fell to my knees, and suddenly Ed started choking as well. Still breathing in the sickly dense air, I blacked out for the second time that week.

...

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Gunfire exploded in the young girl's ears as military swarmed the square, coaxing the native men into violence. The wise and injured fled the dusty square, leaving the dead behind. The girl was one of the few who stayed, watching with sad eyes as her comrades fell, one by one, throughout the square. There used to be an old fountain there, but all that was left was rubble, not even the scent of what liquids it bore was there anymore. Instead the scent was replaced with that of gunpowder and blood.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

But it did.

Wiping away her tears, the girl fled to the city limits. Quite a few people had already gone this way, but of those she was the only one to come back and see. See the rubble of her home, the dead on the streets, and the lost girls and boys that were beyond help. She was the only one who _knew._

And in that moment, she found she didn't really believe in anything anymore. Save for the truth.

Going through a hole in the city's wall, she escaped the only home she ever knew. Looking back, she saw smoke rising high above, and cussed quietly.

There was the slim chance she could survive, with a little luck. The girl turned torward the sweltering desert, leaving the ruins of Liore behind her.

**Oh**, **what's going on there? A new charactor, perhaps?**

**Hehe, don't worry, I'll elaborate soon enough. Yes, we're still following the origonal anime for just a few more chapters. I WILL get into to Brotherhood, even if it kills me. Well, maybe not that...**

**Alright. Please, please, **_**please**_** reveiw. You see the little blue button, you know you can type, and you **_**must **_**like the story to have read this far. What's stopping you? Again, thanks to my regular reveiwers: Loki the Evil Goddess, Hanashi o suru, The Red Coat, The Hopeless Alchemist, Ed's Curious Kitten, and Evnylover. As much as I love you guys, I really want to see a new name on my reveiws list. Feedback is very much appriciated!**


	10. Xenotime part 2

**Hello!**

**Sorry for the delay, but here's your fresh update! Sorry for any confusion - I tried to be descripitive while writing, but I was watching the anime at the same time... so, yeah.**

**Anyway, ONWARD.**

I was falling again, but not for so long this time. I only got a few glimpses of the future - at least, I think it was the future - before a sudden shortness of breath woke me up.

I choked. My throat was burning with what felt like lava, and my chest was no better. Gasping, I bolted upright and coughed violently. My heart was hammering against my ribcage, and it hurt like hell. I felt a small hand pat my back, bringing forth more coughs. Something firey was stuck in my throat, and I hated it.

After my fit subsided, I wiped my mouth and turned to see who was patting me. I knew it wasn't Ed, because the hand was too small, and I knew it wasn't Al, because it was warm too. Although, I did expect it was someone I knew.

Nope.

I had never seen this kid before. He was blond, with big, bright blue eyes and pale skin. He wore green suspenders that matched his cap, and was looking at me worriedly.

"Who -" I coughed again. "Who are you?"

The boy smiled sadly. "My name's Fletcher. Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine." I looked around and spotted Alphonse. "Al!"

"Kiki! You're awake!"

I crawled over to where he was sitting, as did Fletcher. I was shocked to see Ed passed out in Al's lap. "Ed..."

"He should wake up soon." Fletcher assured me. I nodded.

"Are you the one that took Al's name, then?"

He looked ashamed. "Yes. I'm very sorry for the trouble we caused..." he sounded on the verge of tears.

"Hey, what are you crying for? I'm not mad."

He looked up. "You're not?"

I heard a moan, and looked over at Ed, who was still reclined in Al's lap. We all watched as his golden irises were revealed. I sighed in relief. "Ed, are you okay?"

He sat up and rubbed his neck. "Yeah. My throat hurts something awful, though. Where are we?" Suddenly, he spotted Fletcher. "Hey! And why are you here?"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"Ed!" I slapped him upside the head. "Don't be stupid! Fletcher's just trying to help!"

"Ack! Alright, alright! Jeez."

"Fletcher..." Al said, and I turned to the crying boy. "If you know something, you should tell us."

Fletcher took a deep breath."The red water... it's water that's very dangerous to humans... but it's vital in creating the red stone..."

"Dangerous? Could it be the thing causing everyone's cough?" Ed and I watched the conversation like a tennis match - back and forth, reaction to reaction, until Fletcher broke down.

"I'm sorry... so sorry..."

Ed shook his head. "Jeez, this is ridiculous." He stood up. "I'll just smash this stuff and be done."

"I can't let you do that."

We all turned. A new boy stood there, and I guessed he was related to Fletcher. He had blond hair with long bangs and was about a head taller than Edward - haha, shorty - as well as dark brown suspenders with a blue top underneith. This would be the Ed imposter.

I snorted. "You're way too tall to play as Edward."

The new boy smiled as Ed glared.

"We've finally raised up a red stone this far." He held up a stone about the size of my palm. "My dad sacrificed himself for this. If his research goes unfullfilled, he'll never be redeemed, right?" The boy smiled cruelly.

Ed sneered. "What's so great about a half baked rock?"

The boy frowned and stuffed the rock in his pocket while grabbing a nearby desk lamp. With a flash of red alchemic light, the lamp melted into a deadly-looking sword.

"I bet that's fake too! I'm gonna mess you up, along with your rock!" He clapped and touched his automail. "And unlike your toy, mine is the genuine article!" A sword point erupted from his hand, and he lept forward.

"Ed! Stop!"

No dice. The boy dosn't listen to me.

The blades clashed, and the new boy kneed Ed in the stomach. He launched back as red light flashed again. This time, a hose came out of the wall, and the new boy grabbed it and pulled it through.

"This leads directly to the red water. If it touches you, you'll loose more than conciousness."

"Stop! You guys are taking this too far!" Al said.

"I agree with your brother. Get out of here!"

"Not a chance!" Ed grinned. "There's no way I'm loosing to a sap who's just chasing after his pop!"

The boy scowled and turned the water on. "Ed!"

Ed clapped his hands, transmuting his arm into a steel umbrella and blocked the stream. It gained force, pushing Ed back, until he slipped.

I ran forward without realizing what I was doing, and was suddenly on the ground in Ed's place. My loose clothes absorbed the red water on the ground, and touched my skin. It stung like hell.

I grit my teeth as all noise stopped. Everyone was looking at me in shock, most of all Ed, who sat a few feet away and had escaped the red water. I wimpered. The feeling was like before, when I woke up - the shortness of breath, the burning - exept now it was all over me. I tried to stay awake as I heard Fletcher yelling at his brother. Alphose rushed forward and lifted up my torso, letting me breath a little easier.

"Why did you do that?"

I turned to Ed and gave a pained smile. "You idiot. Listen to me next time, will ya'?"

He looked down.

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. "Mr. Edward! Is everything alright in there?"

The new boy cursed quietly. "We're fine! Damnit," He closed his eyes. "I told them not to bother us..."

"They're suspicious of you, huh?" Said Edward, who turned to face the boy. "Wouldn't it be nicer if you just reveal who you really are?"

I was on the verge of unconciousness, even with Al keeping me elevated. Suddenly, he gasped. "Fletcher!"

I couldn't see what was going on, but alchemical light flashed. "Go! Now!"

"Brother..." Al said, turning to Ed. I felt both thier worried eyes on me.

"Leave her here."

"What!"

"We can't do that!"

"You two don't have the medical supplies to heal her. We do."

"Then give us the supplies!"

"There's no time! They're not in this room, anyway!"

I heard Ed grit his teeth. "Ed..."

"Yeah?"

"Just go."

"But -"

"Go, Ed!" My eyes were closed, so I didn't see his expression. "I promise you I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me!"

There was a long pause, but then I heard Ed cuss. "We'll be back soon." He said. I heard footsteps and felt Alphonse set me down as I heard the crash of glass breaking. That would be Ed, going through the window. Another pair of hands hoisted me up into a sitting position.

I heard the new boy's voice. "Do you really trust us that much?"

I shook my head. "Not that much, but I trust you not to kill me. That's enough, right?" I paused as I felt him pick me up. "What's your name, anyway? Your real one." I added.

"Russel."

"Thanks, Russel."

Damn, I've been blacking out a lot lately. I hope this won't turn into a regular thing, because it was shaping up that way.

(-)

"Ow, ow, ow..." I moaned. "Whatever truck hit me, I'm gonna kill the driver."

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah. Never better. In fact, I love passing out so much, that's the third time I've done it this week." I said sarcastically and sat up. I went up to scratch my head, and was surpised when something hard and _wooden_ smacked me instead. The fuck?

I opened my eyes. It was too dark to see at first, but I eventually made out the silluettes of Russel and Fletcher.

"Can someone explain to me where the hell I am _this_ time?"

"The underground cells. Mugwar played us. After we told him we wern't interested anymore, he put us all down here in wooden cuffs." Ah, so that would be the thing that smacked me.

"Well, since I don't feel like I'm burning alive, I assume you healed my injuries before we got dumped in here?"

Russel's shadow nodded. I sighed and looked around, but it was sill too dark to see anything. "So..." I heard Fletcher say. "What do we do now?"

I smiled. "Oh, that's an easy one. We wait for Ed."

"Playing damsel in distress, are we?"

I scowled. "Shut it, blondie. Do I look like the damselling type to you?"

"No."

"Good answer."

...

The girl coughed. She had been in the desert for days now, and the rapid temperature changes were giving her hypothermia. How long did the sandy horizon stretch? Would she ever find the end?

No telling when the sand would turn to city. The girl had no water or food: it was a miracle she survived this long. But her reserves were all used up.

She fell, legs unable to support her meager weight, and crashed into the sand. She sat there for what seemed like years, until a pair of strong hands picked her up.

"What's a girl like you doing out here?" It was a female voice. Young, maybe a little older than the girl, but full too.

Something pressed to the girl's lips. "Drink." The woman's voice ordered, and the girl didn't argue. Taking great gulps, she drank only as much water as she needed, which was a lot.

"Where did you come from?"

The girl coughed. "Liore..."

There was a pause. "Well, I can't very well take you back there, now can I?" The girl shook her head. "Come on, I'll take you somewhere safe."

"Thank... you..."

...

It took awhile - about a day, to be exact - but eventually, I heard Ed's quick footsteps sound down the dungon hall.

The cell door opened, and we all sqinted at the sudden light. "Kiki! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Look, can you hit the dimmer or something? The light is making my eyes hurt."

I felt rather than saw Ed roll his eyes. He turned to Russel and Fletcher. "I heard Nash Trigham was your father. You knew about the red water and you knew about the illnesses. Your pop did, that's why he quit his research." He clapped his hands and stepped forward, turning all of our cuffs into small wooden blocks. "I'm in your debt for taking care of Kiki, but you'll have to do a lot more than that to redeem yourselves, especially since you now carry our names. Let's go, guys!"

I got up. "Right." I turned to the former imposters. "Russel? Fletcher?" They looked up from where they sat. I smiled. "Thanks." Then followed Ed and Al out into the hallway.

"I'm saying, I don't help out murderers, Mugwar!"

Oh boy, there he goes again. Being overly dramatic in a deadly situation.

I walked in, making my grand entrance with a yawn. "What'd I miss?"

Mugwar turned to me. "You..."

I raised an eyebrow. "Hey, hey, what did I do?"

I was suprised when instead of answering, he fired a bullit at me from freaking _nowhere_. I dodged quickly and went to hide behind a random pillar.

"Oof!"

"Oh, hey guys! What's going on here?"

Ed scowled. "That bastard is using the red stones as ammunition."

Stones? Plural, as in, more than one? When did this happen? _And how in hell could he turn them into bullits?_

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire stopped, making way to Mugwar's grunts of pain. I peeked out from behind the pillar to see that my new friends just saved our asses.

"Russel! Fletcher!" They looked up from their work and smiled. I then saw that they had a plant in an alchemic reaction - it's roots had branched out and trapped Mugwar. I got the message. "Ed! Al!"

They saw me and nodded. Together, we pushed the pillar torward Mugwar and it fell, crushing the Disney Villan under it.

I smiled and pumped my fist. "Yet another victory for the good guys!"

Russel and Fletcher stood. "Looks like you needed our help after all."

I swear, Ed growled.

"We've given up chasing after our dad," Russel turned to his little brother. "We'll find our own way now."

Fletcher looked overjoyed. "Brother..."

Wait a minute. Something's not right here.

I looked around, trying to find the cause of my unease, until I looked under the pillar. Where Mugwar's blood should have been, there was a large hole, revealing a stone staircase.

"Ed!" I pointed to the hole, and the eldest Elric cussed.

"Damnit, that bastard got away..."

"Not for long." Fletcher said, and ran to rifle through some drawers, coming up with triangular copper masks. "Put these on. They'll help you breath easy down there."

We all nodded.

(-)

What happened next went to quick to describe. After we decended into the ground, Mugwar tried to blow our heads off with a cannon. I don't know where he got it from, but the blast upset the bedrock and made the whole chamber collapse. Both sets of brothers and I made it out, but Mugwar wasn't so lucky. The red water stream overflowed, and we all hurried to the surface.

The water had spilled out of the caverns, and ran down the mountainside. Ed created a sort of barrier between the water and the town below, but everyone knew it wouldn't hold for long. But then the Trigham brothers performed an awesome display of what Ed called bio-alchemy, having the surrounding trees absorb all the red water and then dissolve into the wind. It was a sight to behold.

Oh, I beheld, alright. Alchemy is amazing!

Now, I breathed a sigh of relief. The town was saved, the red water gone, and the imposters in the right. God, I hope that was the end of this particular adventure.

(-)

"Here, big sister! Uncle Belsio made them for you!"

I leaned out the train window and took the woven basket of goods from Alicia. "Thank's Alicia!" I said, smiling at the new nickname. "And thank your uncle Belsio for me, too."

"All right! Do you promise to come back soon?"

I looked to Alphonse, who sat beside me. I heard him chuckle and smiled. "You bet!"

The train's engine started up, and we all waved our goodbyes. Heck, we even stuck our heads out the window and watched the others disappear into the speck on the horizon that was Xenotime.

"What's this?" Ed's question got my attention back inside the car. I looked at him as he read a note found in the basket of goods. Suddenly, he stiffened.

"What is it, brother?"

"Oh, ah -" Ed hid the note. "It's nothing!"

Al and I shared a glance.

"Give it to me!"

"No way!"

"Ed! Hand it over!"

"No!"

"Brother!"

"BACK OFF!"

I grabbed the note from his hand and started reading.

_Ed,_

_Thank you. Being a year younger than you, I apologise for any disrespect. We'll be residing in Xenotime for awhile, helping Belsio make the town better. And I will try to follow your example. Well, have a nice trip!_

_Russel._

"Damn it," Ed mumbled. "How can that bastard be a year younger than me and still be taller? What a joke."

I laughed at his obvious discomfort. Ed was so easy to annoy. I fingered through the basket. There were all kinds of baked goods - there was even a pie in there. I smiled, remembering our first day here. _"He always said you made the best lemon pies..."_ Good old Alicia.

At the bottom of the basket, there was another note.

_Kiki,_

_I assume you've already read Ed's note, so I'll make this quick. Of course, I would like to apologise to you as well, but thank you for trusting us enough to fix our mistakes. I just wanted to tell you that we'll follow your example, too - things arn't always what they seem. Remember to come visit us soon!_

_Russel._

I smiled down at the piece of paper. Yeah, this little adventure was officially over.

**DONE.**

**Ugh, again, sorry for the delay guys. I've gotten into the habit of writing 4 FREAKING CHAPTERS IN ADVANCE. So, as you can imagine, that took awhile.**

**Be sure to check out my new one shot side story 'In the Tunnels'. It's post-manga, so all the crap that goes down is all over and done. Came to me in a dream, so don't judge.**

**Every time you don't reveiw, Ed shrinks. Be nice to poor Edward and reveiw.**


	11. Hopeless

**Sorry for the wait, guys. I've had... stuff to do. Most of which consisted of forced shopping - let me repeat, FORCED. I had no choice but to loose my computer.**

**I have begun my quest for Beta readers! A little late, I know, and looking over earlier chapters I see that maybe I should have started sooner... I looked over this one beforehand and fixed/saved it as best I could, but it still seems kind of off.**

**WARNING: Extremely long chapter ahead! It's a two in one - a little thank you for waiting.**

**That is all. Again, ONWARD!**

Someone shook me out of my dreams, and I peeled my eyes open to see Alphonse's lighted eyeholes. I yawned. "What time is it? Are we there yet?"

Al chuckled. "Yeah. I was just about to wake brother up."

I got up and stretched, cracking my neck once or twice, then looked over at th opposite seat. Ed was laying there, snoozing peacefully. I smiled. "Aw, can't we just leave him? He's so much nicer when he's sleeping."

"It takes a while for brother to wake up, and we'll be in East City in only ten minutes." I heard laughter in his voice and yawned again. Jeez, it seems that the more times I get knocked out, the more tired I am afterwards. How does that make sense?

"Alright. Hey, can I wake him up?" I said, smiling.

"Sure."

Oh, this was gonna be fun. I crouched down on the floor and positioned myself right next to his ear. I snapped in it, just to make sure he was deep in slumber. He didn't stir, and Alphonse laughed in anticipation. Here we go!

I took a deep breath.

"HEY, YOU THERE! SHORTY!"

Ed bolted upright with a wild gleam in his eye. "WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' SHORTER THAN MUSTANG'S MINISKIRT?"

I gaped. "Dude! That's messed up!" How in hell did he even come up with that one? I laughed from my spot on the floor while Ed glared at me. That... that was halarious!

"Oh yeah. Ha, ha, very funny. Everyone pick on Ed's size. Will you get up already?"

I cleared my throat, but still smiled. "Yeah, yeah. But still, Ed, where did you come up with that one?"

He sighed. "You don't want to know."

"I'll take your word for it."

A few minutes later we got off the train and made our way throught the large station. It was awfully crowded, with tons of travellers and their baggage going back and forth train to train. I was about to ask which way we were going when Ed suddenly stiffened. He grabbed my arm and pulled both me and Al to the side.

"What the hell?"

He covered my mouth with his flesh hand. "Shh!"

The initial shock of him shushing me made me still for about two seconds, but then I started struggling. 'Ed, if you don't remove your fingers from my mouth they will be bitten off!' I said, but it came out more muffled than I intended. I think he got the message, though.

"Just wait! You don't even know what you're being quiet for!"

"O! Et or od dan and of my outh!" Translation: 'So! Get your god damn hand off my mouth!'

"Are you going to be quiet?"

"Eth!"

He hesitated, but then took his hand off, and I gave him my best 'I'll-kill-you-later' glare. "So what in hell are we hiding from?" I whispered, still huddled beside both brothers.

Ed pointed. "_Him._"

I looked over his shoulder. In the middle of the station stood an extremely large man in what I guessed was military uniform - I remember seeing that unifrom on that Hawkeye person that shot me. The man was burly, with a thick blonde handlebar mustache and a single blonde curl of hair on his forhead. The shock was, I think I had seen him before. Who was he?

Then I remembered my stay in the hospital. Oh, _him._

"Crap!" I hissed. "You could have told me it was Armstrong!"

Ed looked startled. "You've met him?"

I nodded. "He came to visit me in the hospital after I was dumped here." I felt both boys grimance, despite the fact that one was in armor. "What is he doing here?"

"Probably sent by Mustang to come get us, the bastard." Ed explained.

I decided I didn't like Mustang. "Are we going to give him the slip?"

"Would you rather be subjected to one of his chest hugs?"

I made a face. "... Good point."

We snuck to the front entrance while keeping an eye on Armstrong all the way. When the large man turned torward one of the back trains and the coast was clear, we waved Al over, since he was too large to do much sneaking. Eventually, we escaped the train station and made our way to the military headquarters.

I took in the scenery. There were the same cobblestone roads that I remembered, the same weathered buildings, the same occasional car passing by, the same this, the same that. I fingered the scars on my forhead. I was the only one who actually changed. Ed saw my movement, but looked away.

"I don't blame you guys."

They stayed silent, and I shrugged. "You don't have to believe me, but I really don't. I blame myself, I blame Jessica, I blame Kreger, but I could never be mad at you two for something you knew nothing about."

"We didn't get there fast enough. It was our fault he got that far."

My eyes narrowed. "Don't be idiots, idiots. Even if it was your fault, it's in the past. There's nothing you can do about it now."

The conversation stopped there, but I could tell it was far from over. I sighed and continued walking between the two. Sure, I wanted to make an arguement out of it, but this wasn't exactly the time or place for that. Even in my aggrivation, I could still see the pedestrians stealing glances at our odd trio and almost flinched at the subtle attention from the crowd of passerby.

We made our way through the streets, eventually coming up to the large military building, stone steps and all. As expected, I followed Ed and Al up those steps, past the guards and through the halls into a seemingly random office.

"How's that radio coming, Feury?"

"I can't seem to get a signal! One of the parts is going to have to be replaced." We walked in to what looked like an office party... exept, everyone was complaining about paperwork. Multiple people sat around a single large desk in the middle of the room, everyone working on one thing or another. Mostly paperwork.

I saw Ed smirk from the corner of my eye. Clapping his hands, he touched the radio. Blue alchemic light flashed, startling the bespeckled man named Feury into lurching back from the newly fixed radio. I laughed and he turned to greet us. "Edward! Alphonse!"

"And Kiki." I piped up, not having met most of the military men.

A girl with blonde hair and amber eyes looked up in suprise, then smiled. "Welcome back. The Colonal is expecting you two."

Ed made a face. "Ugh..." I sent him a sympathetic glance and he turned on his heel and walked out. Alphonse turned to the assembled desk jockeys.

"It's good to see you all again!"

Everyone smiled their greeting with sincere joy, and I wondered how one little boy in armor could have such a positive effect on people. Al and the men engaged in a short conversation while I watched. Was Alphonse even in the military?

"Hey, Al! Are you coming?" We all heard Ed from outside the office, everyone exept Alphonse deciding to ignore him. He said his goodbyes, naming each person before heading out the door after his brother.

The blonde woman turned to me while the boys left. "I see you're feeling better."

I blinked and examined her... and then jumped back in suprise. That was the girl! The girl who shot me! I havn't seen her since the incedent, but still... holy crap!

"U- um, nice to finally meet you properly, Miss Hawkeye." I said, regaining what was left of my composure.

She smiled in understanding. "Please, just call me Riza. Your name's Kiki, right?"

I nodded and looked around, raising an eyebrow as I examined the people.

"You all don't strike me as desk jockies." I observed.

A man with blonde hair and an unlit cigarette looked up at me. "Colonal Mustang's a huge procrastinater, and we have to pick up for his slack."

I nodded. We went through introductions - the blonde man introduced himself as 2nd Luteniant Jean Havoc, and then went around the table. There was Falman, a Warrent Officer, Breada, a dog phobiac, and of course Feury, who I guessed was the techno-nerd of the office.

"He's up to something! He's definately up to something!"

I rolled my eyes at Ed's yelling.

"Don't be so suspicious of me! After the Liore case, this makes us even. Being indebted to you would be repulsive!"

I saw Hawkeye roll her own eyes. I snikkered.

"What?"

I shook my head. "Just thinking. Looks like we both have to take care of those idiots, huh?"

She smiled.

(-)

About ten minutes later, we arrived at the Tucker estate. Let me tell you, that place was huge! Just the front wall was at least forty feet wide, and had three stories! It reminded me of a castle - not just in size, but in architecture.

"Whoa." Ed came out of the car to stand next to me.

"Big..." Al's voice came from behind us.

Mustang walked past us to ring the doorbell. "Are you all just going to stand there and gape all day?"

Edward scoffed and started to walk over. Al and I, however, hesitated, still getting over the size of the building.

"_HHHHOOOOOOORRR!_"

I started as a monsterous white dog jumped ontop of Ed. He grunted and went down with the fluffy mound ontop of him. I bent my head bent to the side, trying to see the pipsqueak under all that fur. He moaned after a few seconds, and I heard a little girl's voice sound from the front of the house.

"Oh, look! Lots of guests!"

I looked up to see a little girl, about the age of six, with big blue eyes, long brown hair tied back in two braids, and a little red shirt opening the door. A man came from behind her - he was balding and had circular glasses perched on his nose.

"Now, Nina, didn't I tell you to tie the dog up?"

Ed moaned again. I rolled my eyes and nudged a semi-dog-covered foot with my own. "You big wimp."

(-)

"Once again, it's nice to meet you Edward. I'm the Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker."

All the boys sat around the dining table as I inspected Tucker's piles of research and maps. He had a lot of stuff - if I hadn't known better, I would have described him as a hoarder (No offense intended to the hoarders of the world) but he explained it was just laziness. That was something I understood.

"He's interested in transmuting living things." Roy said. "He says he would love to take a look at your research."

"Well, all right."

I turned away from the multiple knick-knacks to smile at Ed.

"However..." We all stiffened. "Before I show you what's up my sleeve, you'll have to show me what's up your's. That's what it means to be an alchemist, after all." I was now fully turned torward the table. "So, why are you interestied in transmuting living things?"

"Well -"

"Colonal." Ed waved off Mustang's explanation. I watched as Ed revealed his automail to Tucker and gave him the same story he told me, what seemed like years ago.

"You transmuted your mother? An eleven year old child?" Tucker paused, looking, once again, at Ed's automail. "I see... so that's why you're called the Fullmetal Alchemist. You two have had it rough, huh?

"But what about you?"

I looked to Tucker, drawing my eyes from Edward's automail. "Me?"

"Yes. I realize that you may not be interested in my research, but everyone must pay the price of knowlege to gain knowlege. So what is your secret?"

I glanced at Ed, who was watching me carefully.

"My secret is none of your buisness... but if it means Ed and Al get to look through your notes, I'll tell you later. There's a lot to explain, and it's not for everyone." I tried not to look at Roy as I said this.

After a breif pause, Tucker nodded and stood up from his chair. "If you don't mind, I would like to show you my lab first."

I breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't going to make me tell everyone of America, or Earth, for that matter. It was a small mercy.

Ed walked beside me as Tucker led the way to his lab. "How much more is there?"

I smiled guiltily at him. "Loads. Don't worry Ed, I'll tell you eventually."

"Here," Tucker said, opening a set of double doors. Strange animal calls came from inside, and a light flickered on, making various cages visible. I examined the strange animals as Ed and Al looked at shelves of materials. One of them had three heads and was knawing at the iron bars of it's cage. I looked at it for a moment and shivered. Moving on down the line, one chimeara caught my attention.

It was small, and pretty much the only one not growling or hissing at my preasence. I gave off the apperance of a lizard, but it had blue eyes, unlike every lizard I've ever seen. The eyes were intelligent, too, and watched me with what might have been curiosity. I couldn't really tell.

I turned to Tucker. "What's this one mixed with?"

"That one?" He smiled. "That one is my most advanced chimeara. I call it _fugiens lacerta avis_. Do you know what that means?"

I thought back to my years in school. Didn't we study latin once?

Inspiration hit me. "You don't mean... a dragon?"

He smiled. "Dragon is the mythological term, yes, but I'm more interested on how you knew that language."

Crap. "It goes with my secret, sort of. A minor part."

He nodded and got up. I did too, and smiled when I saw Ed, Al, and even Mustang staring at me. "What?"

"How did you know that? I've never even heard that language and I know it's ancient!"

I rolled my eyes. "I told you! Later!"

Ed sighed in agrivation.

We followed Tucker through a few more hallways and paused when he opened another set of doors. The light was switched on, and a whole library came into veiw. "This is my records room. Feel free to look around."

"Incredible..."

"Jeez, a dragon, a personal library, what next?" I muttered as the brothers scanned the volumes of hardback books.

"All right, I'll start with this shelf."

"And I'll start over there."

I rolled my eyes. Scholors - you can never escape them.

"I'm going back to work. I'll send someone by to pick you up this evening." Mustang said. Ed didn't even look like he heard.

"They have incredible focus, don't they? They've already shut out the voices around them." Tucker adjusted his glasses. "There really are prodegies out there."

Mustang left, shooting me a curious glance before doing so. As soon as the door closed, Shou turned to me and asked me to follow him. I obliged, letting him lead me back to the lab where I saw the dragon. "Now then, tell me everything."

I took a deep breath.

(-)

I have no idea why I gave him so much information. Just the first sentance would have been enough - 'I come from another world'. No, I had to tell him the absolute whole story, which was more than enough for him to allow me into his library. Not that I wanted to get in there in the first place, but I just found it hard to stop talking. I ranted about the countries, ranted about the technology, heck, even ranted about the government!

I sighed, flipping through the book Tucker gave me. It was about some young girl in a 'fictional' parallel world, trying to live life to the fullest. I rolled my eyes at the book. For one, I hated the main charactor - she was obnoxious and overbearing - and two, this was nothing like my world at all. It was like the author saw a bunch of ideas and mushed them all together, saying 'oh, wait, I like that one'. Pathetic.

I heard laughter from outside, and went to the window to see... Ed and Al? Playing with Nina, by the looks of it. I hd only seen the girl a few times during our visits, but never found the time to talk with her. She looked like she was having fun.

I smiled. I could use a break.

(-)

"Tucker? Thanks for letting us over again."

The house was dark and silent. The wind outside worsened, blowing in the storm, and I shivered. The weather was espesially bad today, with chilling breezes and a dark athmosphere. Usually, I liked rain, but this is ridiculous.

"Tucker?"

"Hey, Nina?"

Our little trio walked through the halls, calling for the alchemist and his daughter, but no one answered. On a hunch, I opened the door to the lab and found someone sitting there. "Tucker!"

"Oh, so you _are _home."

The Sewing Life Alchemist looked up from where he sat on the ground and smiled creepily. "Hey."

Suddenly, something didn't feel right. "Tucker, what are you doing?"

"I've finally finished it!" He grinned at us, getting up. "A chimeara that can understand human speech!" Thunder rumbled outside, and Tucker crouched down. "Listen here. That person is Edward." He pointed to the approching alchemist.

A shadowey mass in front of Tucker moved, seeing our group. I stepped back when I saw it's unseeing eyes. The animal mix had no irises.

"Ed... Ward... Ed... Ward..."

"Yes, yes, very good!" Tucker patted the chimeara.

"Amazing! It really can speak!" Ed crouched down also, to look at the strange creature.

"Yes, now I won't loose my certification. I made it in time!" Tucker whispered to himself in releif.

I crouched down next to Edward and listened to the beast speak. "Ed... Ward... Ed... Ward..." It bared it's teeth, as if smiling. "Big... Bro... Ther..."

I stiffened. Putting a hand on Ed's shoulder to steady myself, I realized that the chimeara was about the same size as Alexander, Nina's dog. Holy shit...

"Tucker, can you tell me again, when you became a state alchemist?" My legs were shakey all of the sudden as I saw the anger evolve on Ed's face.

"Let's see... two years ago."

"And when did your wife leave?" Oh god, the creature's mane was the same color as Nina's hair...

"Two years ago."

"Let me ask you one last question... where did Nina and Alexander go?" He turned a death glare at Tucker and shook me off his shoulder. I heard Al gasp.

Tucker hesitated. "I hate you perceptive kids. Always quick to catch on."

Ed lunged and I turned away, torward... Nina.

She looked at me through Alexander's eyes as I touched her long brown mane. "Ki... Ki..."

"Oh god..." I whispered. I know I've been through a lot, but this... this was too much. Not even my family's disappearance was this horribly wrong. I curled my fingers through Nina's hair as moisture rose in my eyes. She was just a sweet little girl yesterday! How could this have happened?

"No! We are nothing alike!"

I heard a grunt of pain, and Nina shifted. I skittered back on instinct, my subconcious naturally afraid of this new... animal.

"Yes we are! The oppurtunity was there, so we tried it! We are exactly the same!"

"No..." Ed punched the madman, earning another grunt of pain. "I'm not..." Blood spattered as Ed broke the man's nose. "Alchemists arn't..." Another punch, and more of Tucker's blood splashed. "No... No!"

"Brother!" Alphonse lunged forward and grabbed his sibling's hand. "Anymore and he'll die!"

A few tears slipped from my grasp as I looked at Tucker. I trusted this man, told him everything about me, and he betrayed us. My heart grew dark as I gazed at him, and I felt that Ed and I were on the same page as to how to deal with this.

Beat the shit out of the bastard.

But Edward dropped him, instead looking at what used to be the man's daughter.

"Dad... do you hurt?"

I bowed my head in hopelessness.

"I'm sorry, Nina," Alphonse petted the girl. "But we can't fix you."

I took one deep breath after another.

"Thank goodness. Now I won't have to loose my title..."

My head shot up, teeth bared. This greedy bastard doesn't even care about what happens to his own daughter! Before I even knew what I was doing, my foot had launched a grusome kick into Tucker's side. I felt a sick satisfaction when his ribs cracked. I stood there, glaring at Tucker while my tears steamed.

"DAMN IT!" Ed yelled. I closed my eyes and cried.

(-)

"Ed..."

"Don't."

I went silent, listening to the rain hit the stone stairs in front of the military building. I've had this feeling before - I was in deep depression. We all were. Ed sat beside me so that our bent knees were touching, but I really didn't care.

I put my arm around the young alchemist's shoulders, not knowing what possesed me to do such a thing. To my faint suprise, Ed leaned into me, putting his forhead on my own shoulder.

"Please Ed..."

"No." He answered in a clipped tone, but his head remained on my shoulders.

"Damnit Ed, snap out of this!" I pulled his shoulders back to look at his face, an was met with familiar golden eyes. "I don't want to see you like this. You shouldn't blame yourselves. We were betrayed and that's all there is to it."

"Then why do we?"

Aw damn, I was crying again. "Damnit, Elric, how should I know!" I pulled into myself. "Maybe we're just stubbern and hard headed. Maybe we've fooled ourselves into thinking we could've done more, but the truth will stand! There was nothing we could do. Nothing!"

"Because we're just insignificant humans."

I moaned in agony and stood up. "I'm going back to the apartment." I wanted to wallow in self-pity on the steps with Ed and Al. I really wanted to. But I needed to keep moving forward in my own way, and so did they.

So I left.

(-)

_I looked down at the face of my little brother. Seth was just as I remembered. The thought made me smile._

_"Kiki, why did you leave? Don't you love me?"_

_My eyebrows furrowed. "I would never leave you! Of course I love you!"_

_"But you did leave. You don't love us."_

_I paused. "'Us'?"_

_"Kiki?"_

_I turned on the spot to face Nina, looking at me with curious eyes. "Nina..."_

_"Why did you leave us?"_

_I shook my head. "I never ment to leave you. I love you both."_

_"Then why did you leave?" Seth faded from my sight, and I lunged for his disappearing body._

_"See? You're leaving again!" Nina morphed into a dark beast with white eyes. "If you loved us, you wouldn't have left!"_

_"No, I do love you! Don't go!"_

You never learn, do you, little se-er?

_I paused in my search. "Truth?"_

Bolting upright, I gasped in a breath. That nightmare was the worst one yet. I shouldn't have gone back to sleep. Damnit, damnit, damnit all to hell, why was this bothering me so much?

Then it hit me. The Nina incedent disturbed me so much because it was the cause of human experamentation. Just like Kreger.

I could have been in Nina's place.

Selfish, selfish, selfish! But Ed and Al have probably already thought of it, too.

I shook my head and pulled myself out of bed. Last night I was having so many nightmares, I was almost tempted to go sleep in the boy's room. Ridiculous. Anyway, I went through the motions of getting dressed, only stopping to check if the clothes actually matched before going down the hall to the boy's room.

I knocked. "Hey, you two awake?"

There was a pause. "Yeah, we're up."

(-)

We paused at the door to lutenant Hawkeye's office in East City military headquarters. Ed wanted to go find out what would happen with Tucker and Nina, and I dragged along for something to do. Being depressed is, well, _boring._

The door opened before Ed got the chance to knock, and out stepped a suprised Riza. "What are you three doing up this early?"

"Uh... um, we wanted to ask about what's going to happen to Tucker and Nina."

Her eyes hardened. "Tucker was scheduled to be stripped of his state alchemist title and sent to federal prison this morning, but they're both dead."

What?

"Dead?"

"They were killed."

"By who?"

"We don't know. I was just heading over to the crime scene myself."

"We're coming too."

"No."

"Why not?" Ed paused at the look on her face.

"It's best you don't see this."

She walked off, leaving the rest of us in stunned silence. Aruptly, Ed cursed. "Damnit, why does it always happen like this? Just when we think it's over, something else pops up!"

I shook my head. "It does happen a lot, dosn't it?" I looked at Ed, who was staring down at his feet. "Come on, let's just go."

We only made it halfway home before Ed and Al quit, sitting down on a random statue to mourn. I just shook my head and remained standing, watching them as rain poured down.

"I've been thinking for a long time, what is the alchemy that we believe in? 'Alchemy is knowing the laws that exist within matter, it's decomposition and reconstruction.' The world also follows laws and has a flow. Everything circulates." I sighed as he continued. "The death of people is apart of that flow. Accept the flow." He gave a sad smile. "That's what our teacher would always say to us. I thought I understood it, but I really didn't. That's why we transmuted mom.

"And now I'm thinking again, is there something we can do about something we could never help?" I understood. He was having thoughts about bringing Nina back. "I'm such an idiot. I havn't grown at all since then. I thought that, maybe, the rain might wash the feeling away, but every drop is more depressing."

_Watch out, little se-er._

Truth? Where the hell have you been?

"With this body, I can't even feel the rain. It pains me. I want to get my body back soon, even if it goes against the flow of the world, and is something we can't help."

_Wake up, before you miss it!_

Miss what? What are you talking about?

"You are the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, right?" I looked up to see a dark-skinned man in a yellow jacket and sunglasses standing there, and I stepped back. Remember what I said about not seeing people's eyes?

Ed looked up at the man, and I stiffened. Something's seriously wrong here, and I was so depressed earlier that I looked over the feeling.

So that's what it ment by 'wake up'.

"Ed!"

"Brother!"

_DONG!_ The chime of the clocktower was enough to break Ed out of his own trance, and he clapped his hands as the dark man lunged again. I yelped and stumbled back as a stone wall seperated us from the man.

Ed was awake now, thank goodness. "What the hell?"

The wall blew up, shattering into a hundred different peices as the man stepped through the newly made hole.

Oh god, we're so screwed over.

"Run!"

We bolted across the courtyard torward a set of stone steps. I didn't look back as we ran down those steps, because I was focused on getting away. About halfway down, the platform above us exploded, and the man jumped down to land in front of us.

"You won't get away." He touched the wall, and I saw alchemic light flash as the steps underneith us disintegrated. I fell, missing Ed's hand as he tried to grab me from where he and Alphonse hung. My back hit the staircase below, and I gasped as the breath was knocked out of me. More light flashed, and I heard a grunt as Al landed next to me, followed closely by Ed.

"Al, grab on!" Ed scrambled over to where I lay and clapped his hands. Suddenly, the ground below us was rising and then falling just as quickly. Stone rubbed against stone as we crashed back down, and I felt Alphonse grab hold of me when Ed tumbled off.

I regained my breathing and kicked out of his arms. We had crashed down on a sloping cobblestone road, and I now ran beside the brothers.

"Damn it, what's this about? Making enimies is something I've never -" I raised my eyebrow as we ran, and Ed made a face. "... really avoided, but there's no reason for anyone to kill me!"

We turned a corner and ran into an alley, hoping to loose our pursuer. More alchemic light came as the alley walls in front of us crashed down. I coughed, choking on the sudden dust.

Ed raised his head beside me. "Ow, damn it..." He turned to the front of the alley, where the man now stood. "Who are you? Why are you coming after us?"

"If there are 'creators' like you, there must also be 'destroyers'." Said a dark voice, and I froze.

"So you're saying we have to fight." Ed clapped his hands and, grabbing hold of a fallen steel pipe, transmuted a knife. Alphonse readied himself in a battle stance, and Ed did the same.

The man smiled. "You're gutsy."

The boys rushed forward, but I stayed put. Whoever or whatever this man was, he scared me to death. Ed brandished his knife and Al lunged forward.

"But still... you're too slow!"

The man touched Alphonse's side, and his armor exploded. I screamed for the first time in a long time.

"Al!" Ed ran forward. "You bastard...!"

The man caught his hand. "Too slow." Ed was blasted back, and I got onto my feet, about to rush forward. The blond boy landed in the street with his coat covering his head.

"Damnit..." To my slight relief, I realized the man had grabbed his automail arm, not the flesh one. Ed got to his feet and struggled to take off his coat, seeing that it was getting in the way.

"Automail? I see, so that's why bodily destruction didn't injure you." The man folowed Ed out into the street, turning his back on me. "You're an unusual one."

Ed clapped his hands and transmuted his automail arm into a blade.

"Brother, don't! You should run!"

"Dumbass! You really think I would just leave you guys here?"

The man examined Ed. "You press your hands together to make an inner circle. In that case..." Ed ran forward, but the man caught his outstreched automail arm. "I'll start by destroying this right arm of yours."

Alchemic light flashed once again as Ed's right arm was blown to pieces.

"Ed!"

"Brother!"

"Now you won't be able to use your alchemy." Ed landed on the street again, stunned, before trying to crawl back only to crash to the ground when he shifted his weight onto his nonexistant right arm.

"Leave him alone!" I rushed toward them, ready to throw a punch, but the man caught my own arm and kneed my ribcage. The breath was knocked out of me for a second time, and I stumbled back gasping.

"Do not interfere." I saw the man turn back to Ed and start to approch where he still lay. "I will give you a moment to pray to God."

"Brother! Brother, run!"

"Unfortunatly, I have no god I'd like to pray to." Ed was still as the man stepped closer. "Tell me, am I the only one you're after? Or are you planning to kill Alphonse and Kiki, too?"

"If they interfere, I will elimanate them. However, Fullmetal Alchemist, you are the only one reciving judgment."

"Oh, yeah?" Ed shifted. "Promise me you won't harm them!"

I blinked in confusion. Ed... why did he stop fighting? Why wasn't he running, saving himself?

"What do you mean, brother? Run. Get up and run!"

The man started to reach down. "I will keep that promise."

"Ed... no! EDWARD!"

I flinched as a gunshot rang out. "That's far enough, Scar!" Mustang? I looked up to see that Roy Mustang had brought the whole calvary to save our hides. "I'm taking you into custody, for being the culprit behind a string of state alchemist killings!"

"Alchemist are those who change things from their natural form into something grotesque." The man stood up, no longer reaching for my friend but staying close. "That is to say, they profane God, the creator of all things. As God's agent, I pass down his judgment. Interfere and you, too, shall perish."

Roy smiled. "This should be interesting." He handed his gun to Riza, who stood behind him. "You guys stay out of this."

"Colonal Mustang!"

"Mustang?" The man - Scar - was now fully distracted. "The Flame Alchemist, Roy Mustang. To think you would voluntaraly come forward to recieve judgment." Scar started in the Colonal's direction. "What a great day this is!"

"You know who I am and you still decide to challenge me? Bad desision." I blinked as 1st Luteniant Hawkeye suddenly ran forward and kicked her superior's legs out from under him. Scar's hand missed his head by mere inches and Riza fired her gun, sending the murderer back.

"What the hell, Hawkeye?"

She cocked her gun. "You and I both know you're usless on rainy days, sir. Please stay back."

I snorted out a laugh depite myself. Mustang was useless?

Ugh, nevermind. I saw Ed and crawled over to where he lay, untouched. "Ed! Ed, are you okay?"

He stirred. "Kiki?"

I sighed in relief and pulled him into a hug. "Ed, you stupid bastard. Don't do that again." Footsteps came over, and I looked to see Havoc hovering over us. He smiled.

"You all right, chief?"

Ed nodded and looked to Scar as a new fight commenced. "Who is he?"

"The one who killed Tucker and Nina."

We stiffened. "He's the one?"

Suddenly, Armstrong - wait, when did he get here? Armstrong sent up multiple spikes in Scar's direction, mutilating the street and sidewalk.

"Hey, don't go tearing up the whole street, Alex!"

"What do you mean?" He shouted with gusto. "Destruction and creation are two sides of the same coin! You cannot have one without the other!"

I sweatdropped as his shirt magically disappeared and sparkles erupted from his eyes. His abs scared me more than his opponent. "Did he really have to strip?"

"Who cares. He's practically insane."

"Only an alchemist like me would understand!" Alex sparkled. "Isn't that right, Scar?"

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. Scar is an alchemist? I know, I saw the lights that came from his arm, but he dosn't even clap his hands, much less draw transmutation circles! Where does his alchemy come from?

"Ed?"

"Alchemy has three basic parts to it." He explained. "Comprihension, decomposition, and reconstruction. He just stops at the decoposition phase." Makes sense, at least. But where did it come from?

Hawkeye fired a few shots, most of which Scar dodged, but one hit his glasses. They fell off, and I finally saw the man's eyes.

They were red, like Jessica's.

"An Ishvalan?"

Scar looked around. "Perhaps I bit off more than I can chew here."

"Hey, hey!" Mustang cocked his weapon. "We've got you cornered! You can't get away!"

Jinx. Scar slammed his hand to the ground and it collapsed, revealing the sewers underneith. Nice. Real nice. He escaped.

"Hey, is it over?" I turned to see a black haired man with amethist eyes pop up behind Colonal Mustang.

"Luteniant Colonal Hughes, where have you been all this time?"

"I thought it best to lay low." I smiled. Smart man.

"You don't think you could have maybe backed us up?"

"No way! You're not dragging me into a fight with a bunch of super humans! It's bad for my health!" Wow, really smart man.

Ed stiffened. "Al..." Oh shit, how could I forget? He ran over to where his little brother sat, and I watched from the sidelines, flinching when Alphonse channeled his anger. There was yelling, but both boys backed down after a few seconds of the arguement. A sudden warmth hit my face and I turned away from the brothers to see the storm finally begin to disperse, revealing the sun.

"Jeez, I landed in an extra special freakshow, huh?"

I looked to Hughes as Mustang smiled. "Sorry."

He sighed. "Okay. I won't tell anyone upstairs. What a load of trouble this would be, huh?"

I walked over to Ed and Al, smiling when they looked up to greet me. Looks like all I needed to do to get out of depression was a life-or-death situation. Huh, good to know.

"You idiots. Let's get out of here." They nodded, smiling.

(-)

"So, where are we going, again?"

Ed raised an eyebrow. "You're asking me this now? When we already bought the tickets?" I shrugged. "We're going to Resembool to visit my mechanic, Winry."

"And you expect me to know where that is... how?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's a short train ride compared to the one from Xenotime."

"Oh. Alright." I glanced at him from the corner of my eye with a horrible idea. "So, this Winry person, how old is she?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "Same age as me: fifteen."

Even better! "You like her?"

"WHAT! No, no, no, you've got it wrong! She's just a childhood friend!"

I rolled my eyes. He so liked her.

**Did I tell you, or did I tell you? Thanks again, you guys, and remember to R&R! I loves la reveiws!**


	12. They ditched me! Fear the wrench

**Er meh Gurd you guys I am so sorry. I lost inspiration there for a while, then started watching other animes, then got into other animes and searching up random crap all over the site. Look at my fav. list to see what I mean. I went to the abyss (the yaoi section of Hetalia Axis Powers) and back, lost this fandom, rediscovered this fandom, and now I'm finally back here.**

**And I really missed you guys. I'm so sorry I left. THIS STORY IS PART OF MY SOUL!**

***Ahem***

**Anyway, yes, I found myself browsing the Hetalia fanbase instead of the One Piece fanbase like I had planned. There's actually some really good stuff over there - yaoi beliefs aside of course - and I found so many freaking pairings. To be honest, the whole this scares me (so...much...yaoi) but I gained a few new fangirl crushes, so it's all cool.**

**Heh heh, don't kill me?**

**...Onward...**

* * *

"Kiki!"

I moaned. "Kiki is not available right now, leave a message at the beep... beep!"

Ed sighed from his place across the couch. I would laugh at his expense if I had the willpower to open my eyes to do so, but the cushions were so comfy... much better than a certain chibi's shoulders...

...I did not just think that. Nope.

"Get your ass up, the train leaves in half an hour!" Oh, he sounds pissy.

_That _made me laugh. "Why are you up, then? Usually you wait until the last ten minutes!"

"Al woke me up." He was no doubt glaring at his brother right now, because I heard Alphonse laugh from behind me, stuck by the bedroom door. Poor boy had to be put in a crate to keep all his parts together, but at least he's still here. I would laugh too, but then I realized Al also must have told his brother to wake _me _up.

Grr...

I sighed. "Fine, fine. I'm up. Not happy about it though..."

"Never said you had to be."

"Shut up, Ed."

"Make me, psychic."

I stiffened. Oh, so he wanted to play it that way, huh?

Fine. Challenge accepted.

"What's that, shorty? I couldn't quite hear you!"

"Use your mind reading powers, then!"

"I would, if you had one!"

"Oi! Who exactly is the one with the State Alchemist title here?"

I snorted out a laugh. "Alphonse."

"WHAT? Oh, you are so dead!"

I laughed, running for his room. The only room available in this hotel right now was a one-bedroom, but since Al didn't need to sleep and I said I'd take the couch, Ed claimedit - which, admittedly, was my intention, but I still thought he could have been more nice about it.

All well. Rome wasn't built in a day. Shit, wait, there probably wasn't a Rome here. That sucked.

Anyway, being the bedroom, it was the only room in the apartment that had a lock on the door. Lucky me.

I slammed said door and locked it tight, still laughing, and heard laughing from the other side as well. I prepared myself for the alchemy - it had happened last time, right? But it never came.

Then I remembered - Ed currently only had one arm.

Heh heh, oops.

"I'm going to get changed, so go away!" I shouted, and heard him start backing away with Alphonse still laughing.

"Do you have to be in my room?" He joked.

"Your room? Funny, I don't see your name on it."

"Oh, ha ha. Just hurry up."

I grinned. Finally, _finally_, things are starting to look up for us.

* * *

"I still hate trains, you know."

I was ignored. Well, ignored by Ed, anyway. Armstrong, however, turned to me with _that _look. You know the one. "Ms. Kiki-"

"Oh, hey, look, is that our train?"

Armstrong turned to where I was pointing. How he managed to do this with Alphonse, of all people, being carried on his shoulders, I had no clue. "Yes indeed." He looked to us. It was strange, seeing the Major in something other than his usual uniform, but either way he still stuck out like a sore thumb. "I shall go get dear Alphonse comfortable and meet you shortly." And with that, he wandered off into the crowds.

I sighed in relief and looked to Ed. Crisis avoided. "How much you want to bet he'll put Al in a luggage cart?"

He raised an eyebrow, and I smiled. Looking around, there were at least two trains in this particular wing, and crowds all over the place. People gathered around the engines, the newspaper stands, the ticket booth, but it was never too much. The place was big, too - it would take at least six of me, plus an Ed, to reach the blank white ceiling. Pretty nice.

We reached the train, walking down the aisle to find our seats. I spread out on the one across from Ed, kicking up my feet like I was going to be taking a nap. He looked at me weird.

"Alphonse is all ready in his cart," Armstrong declared, appearing behind us. Ed nodded once before Armstrong plopped down next to him, taking a good portion of the seat and squishing the life out of the poor boy. I tried to hide a laugh.

I could still feel the glare, though.

_Knock knock._

"Yo!"

"Huh?"

"Hughes?"

"Hughes? Who's... oh, hey! You're that guy from before!" I smiled in greeting at the familiar man on the other side of the window pane. He was the only logical one when that whole buisness with the psyco killer came up a few days ago. Geez, time flies.

Hughes smiled back. "Good to see you're doing well."

"Same to you."

Ed leaned up to the window, opening it a bit so we could hear each other better. "Hughes, what are you doing here?"

"The others couldn't make it, so I came to see you off instead," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"That's fine and all, but..." He glared at Armstrong. "Why is he coming with us?"

I snickered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hughes frowned. "What if Scar were to attack you again, or something? You'd be in trouble with the shape you're in."

Ed gripped his empty coat sleeve, and I winced in sympathy. I often forgot that Ed was tecnically a handicap. To be honest, unless someone brought it up, I actually overlooked the reason as to why exactly we were researching this 'philosiphers' stone'.

Hughes waved it off. "The Major means well! Just accept it willingly."

"Children should not act so coy." Armstrong crossed his arms.

"Don't treat me like a child!"

"We're not children!"

Ed sighed, calming down a bit. "Are you _sure_ you got Al aboard?"

"Of course! I put him in the animal cart." He said casually, as if that sentance was completely normal.

I blinked. "Why would you put _Alphonse _in an _animal cart_?"

"I thought he would get lonely by himself-"

"What do you think my brother is?!"

Oh boy...

The bell rang out from the open window, and I stiffened in suprise. We were leaving already?

"Oh." Hughes looked to the engine. "It's time."

The train blared out a whistle, and I could see smoke start to cover the ceiling from where I sat. The machine rumbled, and the wheels slowly started grinding against the tracks.

Hughes saluted. "Okay, be careful on your journey. Remeber, if you ever come by Central, give me a call."

I lazily saluted back. "Can do!"

He gave Ed and I a look, then shook his head and backed away from the moving train. We were out of the station before I could ask him about it, but when I looked back, he was still saluting. I waved.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, the cart was empty. Not completely empty - there was a man with dark hair and a bowtie occupying a seat further down, but he was the only person other than me.

What the hell?

I blinked, looking around. I had fallen asleep in the same position I was in yesterday - not very comfortable, I'll admit - and had woken up momentarily to see sunlight, but that's about it. So where in hell are Ed and Armstrong?

I stretched, looking around.

"Oh, them?" The man said, smiling in greeting when I asked about my missing companions. "They got off about five minutes ago in a hurry."

I nodded. "Thank you."

Those bastards ditched me! I stepped off the train onto a concrete platform and made my way to the ticket booth. Oh, they were so going to pay. 'Oi, Major, let's play a trick on Kiki, huh?' Okay, so maybe I was overdoing it by thinking of that, but they still left without bothering to wake me up first!

"Um, sir?" The ticketmaster turned to me, face pinched and scowling. "Did you see a large man carrying a suit of armor pass by here?"

He grunted, pointing down the right stairway. I nodded my thanks and took off.

I'm going to kill him.

Walking down the road, muttering to myself the whole while, I finally caught up with them. It had been about an hour since I left this town's small station, and I would have been on that train going to Risembool _without a guide _if I hadn't woken up when I did. Of course, the hour gave me a little time to simmer out, but I still slapped Edward upside the head when we met.

"Ow! Kiki -..." His eyes widened. "...Oh."

"Yeah, _oh! _What the hell, Ed?"

"Um, well..." He struggled, still standing in front of me. Armstrong was a little behind him still, and carrying Al. I almost loosened - at least he remembered his own brother. "I thought... that..." Glancing back to the short blond, I could see he was struggling with an excuse.

"It would take less time?"

"Yeah!"

"It's been an hour, Ed."

He smiled sheepishly, as if that alone was going to make me forgive him.

And, despite my best attempts otherwise, I cracked.

Damn him and his freaking golden puppy eyes.

"Quit with the face." I growled, looking away. He was forgiven - for a while, at least. "Come on, then. We had best catch the next train."

He sighed, probably mentally celebrating, the bastard. All well... I wouldn't be able to stay mad at him for much longer anyway. I'm horrible at holding grudges.

"Glad to see you caught us, Ms. Kiki." Armstrong walked up, looking... slightly ashamed. I nodded, forgiving him, as well. Besides, who knows what theatrics he might've gotten into if he had to apologize. I shuddered at the possibilities.

"Hi, Kiki!"

Glancing back at Al, I could see him smiling - how is that possible? - and he seemed generally happy to see me back in the group. Mentally, I scowled. Ed probably fed him some BS to excuse my absence. I wanted to glare at him again, but he had already started moving.

I smiled. "Hey Al." And started walking back with the towards the train station. "So, what were you guys doing, anyway?"

Ed sighed, slightly ahead of me. "We were trying to get another lead, but it's gone now."

He was giving me the absolute minimal. Not very sportsmanlike, but all well. I can always get (beat) it out of him later.

We reached the station a while later, and I was right - ours had already come and gone. We got new tickets for the next train to Risembool, but it was going to be another wait. That mean looking guy manning the booth was still there, and every once in a while I could hear him muttering about how he should call the cops on us for liotering or something along those lines. A few trains past, but none of them were ours.

"So, what are you going to do now?" I turned from my seat by the tracks, looking to the rest of the party. Armstrong had asked the question, but it had been directed at Ed in particular.

"...I guess... we'll just have to find another lead." He smiled, then faltered. "What about you? Aren't you going to have to report him?"

Are you confused? Because I am.

Armstrong looked down the tracks, where another train was slowly trundling in. "The man I met today was a small town doctor named Mauro."

Ed grinned.

"Hey! You there!"

I got up - this was our train - and saw a man jogging up the road towards us. Greying black hairtime , old-time jacket, and wrinkles adorned his face. By the look on Ed's face when he saw, this was the man they went to visit.

We waited for him. When he reached us, the man was bent over in exhaustion and gasping for breath. Holding out a slip of paper towards Ed, he coughed. "This... this is where I hid my research..." Standing, he looked Edward in the eye. "It's not for everyone, but I believe you will be able to handle it."

Ed nodded, looking just as serious, and unfolded the paper whilst I studied the man. He noticed me, but I was otherwise ignored.

"Thank you."

The man nodded and took his leave. Armstrong took a look at the slip of paper and chuckled. "If you want to hide a tree, put it in a forest."

"This is it..." Ed grinned. "Finally, we're a few steps closer."

Getting over my confusion, I rolled my eyes. "Well? Are we going to go get the boys fixed up, or not?"

* * *

Risembool was, to put it mildly, beautiful.

Even when I was still on the train, I could tell that much. Grasslands stretched as far as the eye could see, meeting clear blue skies everywhere I looked. The occasional house or dirt road could be seen, and I could even spot the treeline of a forest way out in the distance. I wanted to roll down the windows and stick my head out like the average Labrador, or go out on the caboose and just watch the world pass by, but Ed said that we would have to get our stuff soon.

When we got off, it felt like a different world.

So much color had been blocked out by the train windows. The earthy scent didn't touch the machinery. The air was cleaner than I would've ever imagined.

"...Wow..."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Come on, I want to get there before Grandma starts dinner."

My stomach rumbled, seconding this statement and making me chuckle. I looked around with wide eyes as we walked, glancing back at Alphonse and Armstrong every now and then. "So this is your hometown?"

Al nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"It's... amazing."

"It's not _that _great." Ed snorted, taking the lead. "There's not even a library."

I shrugged. "Plenty of room to explore, though."

"Yeah, and get lost, too."

I laughed. "What's with you? Dreading a certain mechanic?"

He looked sick. "No." Liar. Of course, the Fullmetal Alchemist would be afraid of his teenage mechanic. I know I'll have to meet this 'Winry' girl for myself before I make any judgements, but so far, I could see she was pretty strong-willed... and dangerous.

Personally, I couldn't wait to meet her.

A house came up on the distance - no, not a house. More like a mansion. It was huge and yellow, with at least three stories, not including whatever basement there might be, and covered a good area. There was a balcony leading to an open glass door on the second floor, and I could hear sound of drilling and machinery coming from the room beyond. Just how necessary was it for two people to have _that _much room?

Then I looked at Major Armstrong and Alphonse again.

... Maybe I had better not complain.

Upon further inspection, there was a little old woman by the front porch, smoking a pipe and staring off into the distance. Until she saw us, that is.

She smiled, and her glasses glinted in the sun. She called out something to the balcony, and turned back to us. Whoever she was, she was really short. I haven't seen that many people old enough to start shrinking, but I didn't think being that short was normal. Otherwise, she looked pretty average. Black dress under a white apron, large glasses, and a hairdo that defied gravity. Not that Ed's little antenna was much different.

"Hey, Granny Pinako! I'm gonna need your help again!"

"_Woof!_"

... Woof?

A black and white ball of fur barreled into me, making me lose my balance and tumble over onto the dirt road. And, to a lesser extent, Major Armtrong's foot. Ouch. "Ack!" I groaned, looking up to the adorable face of what I assumed was the family dog. "Why do I have a dog on me?"

They all chortled, the bastards. I pushed the fluff off me and stood up, dusting off my white button up shirt that was now covered in dog hair. All well. At least this guy was adorable.

We made our way up to Pinako, with the dog, strangely at my side the entire time. The old woman laughed.

"Hello, young lady. It seems as if old Den here has taken a liking to you." She held out a hand. "Pinako Rockbell."

I smiled. "Kiki Arashi." We shook, and Pinako moved on to greet the others.

"This is Major Armstrong." Ed pointed to the Major as the newly dubbed Den pawed at Alphonse's crate.

"Pinako Rockbell. Pleased to meet you." Pinako held her pipe for a moment, looking between the Major and Ed. "Is it just me, or since the last time I saw you , Ed... have you gotten a lot smaller?"

I busted out laughing.

"Who're you calling 'small', you half-pint hag?!"

"What did you call me, you little runt?!"

"You heard me, guppy geezer!"

"Chibi chump!"

"Micro mini granny!"

"Hey, Ed!" We all turned to the house, just in time to see something shiny clock into Ed's empty head. I winced, seeing a small amount of blood spurt from his nose from impact. "How many times do I have to tell you to _call _before you come in for maintenance!" a girl shouted from the balcony. She had blond hair and a bandana on, but that's all I could tell from the distance between us.

"Winry, you jerk! You coulda' killed me!"

She laughed. "Welcome back!"

"Yeah, right..."

I snorted at Ed's expression and turned to the girl. "Nice aim!"

She looked confused for a second, then smiled a greeting. "Thanks! I'll be downstairs in a few minutes!"

As it turned out, a few minutes was enough time to set all our stuff down, get Alphonse settled, and brew some hot drinks. All I have to say is, early 1900's hot chocolate is better than one would expect. Eventually though, Winry _did _come down, and she wasn't happy with what she saw.

"WHAAA?!" A finger was pointed at Ed's empty port - he had taken his red coat off to make his missing arm easier to explain. With the walk here, he must have suffered in the dark fabric.

Ed sipped his tea. "Yeah, sorry. It got broken."

"What do you _mean_, 'it got broken'?! That was my _masterpiece! _A state-of-the-art automail prosthetic! _Gah! _Just let me see the damage so I can fix it up!"

"Yeah, when I said 'broken', what I ment was 'smashed to bits'."

_Crack!_

Ed continued sipping his drink, glaring at the wall with the newly implanted wrench in his head. "And you went and broke Al, too? What kind of _lifestyle _do you two lead?"

Al laughed awkwardly and I sent him a sympathetic glance.

Winry sighed, probably used to this, and turned to me. "So..."

I chuckled. "Call me Kiki."

"Winry. So, how did you end up with these two idiots?"

"Well..." I said, rubbing the back of my neck, only to pause for a moment when I felt the short hair there. It still made me a little twitchy to remember just what, _who_, caused it to be that length. "It's kind of... a long story."

Her eyes narrowed, and she turned to Ed. "What did you do?!"

"What? I didn't do anything!"

"Liar, I know that look! You're up to something, and it concerns her, so what did you do?!"

"Nothing!"

I laughed, worries averted. Oh yeah, I think I'm going to like this place.

* * *

**Latias876: Thank you. Yours was the ONLY review, despite me having put two chapters' worth in there *eyes other readers pointedly* so really, thanks. Even the generic 'great story' review was nice to see in my inbox.**

**Now then, I should referance you all so much you would be hiding to escape this screen, but since some good friends are reading this and have to deal with me almost daily via text message, I'll keep my trap shut for now. Instead I'll just torture you with random Hetalia fangirl rants that some of you may or may not understand in the next few chapters. Be prepared.**

**Although,I may spare you if you REVIEW.**

**JUST THROWING THAT IDEA OUT THERE.**

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**YES, RIGHT THERE.**

**WRITE SOMETHING THERE. SEND IT IN OR FACE A CERTAIN RUSSIAN FRIEND OF MINE.**

**OH YEAH, I SO WENT THERE.**


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